Gold recoups losses after Trump tests positive for Covid-19
· Gold reversed course to trade higher on Friday en route to its best week in nearly two months, as investors sought safe-haven assets after U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, although gains were capped by a firmer dollar.
· Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,907.29 per ounce by 0606 GMT. U.S. gold futures eased 0.2% to $1,913.00.
· Bullion has gained 2.5% so far in the week, heading for its biggest weekly percentage rise since the week ended Aug. 7.
· Caution set in broadly across markets as U.S. stock futures extended losses after Trump said he and his wife had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, weeks ahead of elections.
· “This news should be favourable to gold because we probably going to see stimulus at some point in time soon. People should be owning gold here,” said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp.
· He, however, said investors were preferring the dollar and yen at the moment.
· On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $2.2 trillion Democratic plan to provide more economic relief from the COVID-19 pandemic, as a bipartisan deal continued to elude House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House.
· Gold tends to benefit from widespread stimulus measures as it is widely viewed as a hedge against inflation.
· Meanwhile, safe-haven gains for the U.S. dollar limited gold’s appeal, with the dollar index rising 0.2% against its rivals.
· Investors are now awaiting U.S. non-payroll figures due out at 1230 GMT for clues about how the coronavirus-hit economy is faring.
· Elsewhere, silver fell 0.5% to $23.78 per ounce, but was up more than 3% for the week. Platinum slipped 0.8% to $888.83 and palladium eased 0.3% to $2,307.79.
Reference: CNBC
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