Gold price climbs above February lows, heading for sixth weekly drop
New York (Dec 17) Gold rose on Friday, climbing above the prior session’s 10-1/2 month low, as the dollar and US stocks dipped at the end of a volatile week highlighted by the Federal Reserve’s signal that there could be more rate hikes than previously expected in 2017.
Spot gold was up 0.6% at $1,135.16 an ounce by 2:30pm EST (1930 GMT). The metal hit $1,122.35 on Thursday, its weakest since 2 February and is down 2% so far this week, leaving it on track for its sixth consecutive weekly loss.
US gold futures settled up 0.7% at $1,137.40.
Gold prices rose to session highs after US officials told Reuters that a Chinese warship had seized an underwater drone deployed by a US oceanographic vessel in the South China Sea.
“It gave gold a little bit of a boost but it was a knee jerk spike. It looks like both sides are trying to tweak each other, if you will,” said Bill O’Neill, co-founder of LOGIC Advisors.
“Today’s something of a consolidation day across the board.”
The dollar fell from the 14-year high against a basket of currencies reached on Thursday when markets repositioned for a more hawkish US central bank.
“The rate hike this week from the Fed and the hawkish outlook for next year leave a fairly negative picture for gold,” ING commodity strategist Warren Patterson said.
Higher interest rates next year could propel the US currency higher, making gold more expensive for non-US firms.
“The nature of recent gold selling implies fresh shorting as well as liquidation,” HSBC analyst James Steel said in a note.
“The selling may not yet be exhausted.”
Highlighting investors’ lack of appetite for gold are physically backed gold exchange traded funds; holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold ETF, are down more than 10% since 9 November.
Silver gained 0.6% at $16.05 an ounce, after falling more than 5% on Thursday.
Platinum rallied 3.50% to $924.80, after dropping to the lowest since early February in the previous session.
Palladium was down 1.5% at $689.50 after falling to a one-month low at $677.25. It is on track to end the week down more than 5%.
“We would refrain from buying (platinum or palladium) at this point in time,” Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said in a note. “We have become more cautious on the demand backdrop, primarily related to autocatalysts and jewelry.”
Source: Reuters
