Gold's wild ride continues with prices rebounding after rout

Among banks that have forecast substantial gains in recent weeks, Bank of America predicted gold prices will hit US$3,000. PHOTO: REUTERS

Gold headed for back-to-back gains yesterday following wild swings as investors weighed the outlook for the metal's record-setting rally, tracking moves in bond yields, a weaker United States dollar, as well as an uptick in risk appetite.

Spot bullion climbed, while futures were little changed.

This comes after prices tumbled on Tuesday, then swung in a wide arc on Wednesday, as last week's rally likely spurred some technical selling and profit-taking.

Meanwhile, most Asian stocks advanced yesterday and were on course to erase this year's declines as the global equity rally that has driven shares higher since March continued to strengthen.

Gold and silver have resumed their uptrend after the correction and remain among the best-performing commodities this year, aided by negative real yields and vast stimulus to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Goldman Sachs Group has described gold as the currency of last resort amid an inflation threat to the dollar, and forecast further gains above US$2,000 an ounce.

"Gold's roller-coaster ride is far from over as bond yields will likely remain volatile for the rest of the summer," said Mr Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp.

"The relentless pace higher for gold will moderate but the outlook still warrants a strong stretch of fresh, record highs."

Spot gold traded 1 per cent higher at US$1,935.45 an ounce at 11.54am yesterday in Singapore.

On Tuesday, prices dropped 5.7 per cent, the biggest one-day loss in seven years, following a rally to an all-time high of US$2,075.47 last week.

Futures for December delivery declined 0.2 per cent to US$1,945.30 on the Comex in New York.

Silver for immediate delivery rose 1.4 per cent to US$25.8704 an ounce after a 2.9 per cent gain on Wednesday and 15 per cent slump on Tuesday.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped for a second day.

Meanwhile, investors were also weighing comments by two senior Federal Reserve officials who lamented the US failure to control the coronavirus pandemic, which stood in poor comparison with efforts in other advanced countries and was undermining the nation's economic recovery.

BLOOMBERG

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 14, 2020, with the headline Gold's wild ride continues with prices rebounding after rout. Subscribe