· Gold prices climbed toward $1,300 level on Monday, logging their highest finish in nearly 11 weeks, with investors flocking to the perceived safety of the precious metal as the war of words between the U.S. and North Korea returned to the fore.
· Gold for December delivery GCZ7, -0.04% added $5.10, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,296.70 an ounce after tapping a high of $1,299.70. The contract briefly jumped above $1,300 in Friday’s session, as a terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain, and concerns about President Donald Trump’s pro-business agenda helped to spark a rush to haven assets, but prices pulled back that day to post a modest loss.
· “Demand for gold is likely to remain high nonetheless, as the U.S. and South Korea began a joint military exercise earlier today. This could rekindle the conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, which had taken something of a back seat again recently,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a note.
· Pyongyang warned on Sunday that the annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises are “reckless behavior driving the situation into the uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war.”
· “This was already the fifth weekly increase in a row, net long positions being expanded almost eight-fold during this period. In this context, more short positions were covered than long positions were built up,” the Commerzbank analysts said.
· According to the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released Friday, net long positions in gold GCZ7, -0.05% soared 30% for the week ended Tuesday to 179,537 contracts from 138,566 the week before. That marks the highest level of net longs among speculators since October.
· Traders and investors also took positions ahead of the three-day Jackson Hole, Wyo., economic policy symposium of global central bankers hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City beginning Thursday. They will be looking for hints from central bankers on any changes to monetary policy.
· “A surprise out of Jackson Hole is going to bring mammoth moves for the gold price,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets. Gold prices are moving higher with traders hoping to hedge their risk on this “despite the fact that no one is expecting any unexpected announcement.”
· Copper futures, meanwhile, saw highest levels since November 2014, boosted by expectations for stronger demand from China.
Copper for September HGU7, +0.27% rose 1.4% to $2.981 a pound after tapping an intraday high above $3.
· September silver SIU7, +0.06% was up nearly 0.1% at $17.015 an ounce. September palladium PAU7, +0.11% added 1.3% to $939 an ounce, with prices continuing to trade at levels not seen in more than 16 years, while platinum for October PLV7, -0.04% climbed 0.3% to $985.50 an ounce.
Reference: Market Watch
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