· Gold scaled a near two-week peak overnight after weak economic data from the United States raised expectations for another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve while platinum jumped to its highest level in more than three weeks.
· Spot gold was up 0.7 per cent to $US1,501.97 per ounce after hitting its highest since October 11 at $US1,503.89 earlier in the session.
· US gold futures settled 0.6 per cent higher at $US1,504.70 an ounce.
· Gold and silver prices have moved to new daily highs, with gold back above the psychologically important $1,500 level, in late-morning dealings Thursday. The two safe-haven metals continue to have an overall bullish technical posture, which has invited some chart-based buyers to step up today. The U.S. stock market has come off its daily highs and the stock indexes are now trading mixed to weaker, which is also encouraging buyers back into the gold and silver markets. December gold was last up $7.10 at $1,503.00.
· "The bump we got now is because of the miss on durable goods numbers in the US," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures said.
"We had a couple of misses in the last few weeks on these numbers, be it retail sales or durable goods, and some of the PMI numbers. Overall, it lends support to another rate cut from the Fed before year-end."
· New orders for key US-made capital goods fell more than expected in September and shipments also declined, the data showed.
Also adding to the concerns over the health of the global economy, euro zone business activity stagnated in October as demand withered, according to a survey published on Thursday.
· Central banks globally are facing increasing pressure to dole out monetary support for flagging economies as the US-China trade dispute continue to take toll on trade and business sentiment.
· The Fed has cut interest rates twice this year and investors currently see another reduction in borrowing costs when policymakers meet next week. Lower US interest rates put pressure on the US dollar and bond yields, increasing the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
· "One thing that will help propel gold higher is yields. I reckon the downward trend for yields will resume because fundamentally, nothing has changed," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst with Forex.com.
"We are still seeing central banks conveying a dovish message across the board and that should keep yields under pressure long-term," he said.
· Earlier in the day, the European Central Bank left key interest rates unchanged.
· Among other precious metals, platinum gained 0.7 per cent to $US921.08 per ounce after climbing to its highest since September 30.
· "Platinum is also expected to benefit from positive spill-overs from gold.
However, its sizeable and rising above-ground stocks will remain a key headwind over the rest of 2019 and in 2020," Metals Focus said in a weekly note.
· Palladium, which hit a record high of $US1,783.21 last week, climbed 1.7 per cent to $US1,771.42 an ounce.
· Silver jumped 1.4 per cent to $US17.79.
Reference: Business News, Kitco
Thai
Eng