MTS Help Center

Gold firms on dollar retreat; set for best week in seven

· Gold prices edged higher on Friday and were on course for their best week in seven, as a slight pullback in the dollar and weakness in equity markets offset pressure from rising U.S. Treasury yields.

· Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,724.16 per ounce, after falling as much as 1.4% earlier in the session. Gold is up 1.4% so far this week.

· U.S. gold futures settled down 0.2% at $1,719.80.

· “We’ve seen a bit of weakness in the U.S. dollar (index), it slumped from around 92 to now just over 91.6,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

“There’s a little bit of risk off sentiment and I suspect the psychological level of $1,700 where people weren’t really prepared to go under generated a bit of a rebound in the gold market.”

· Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields rose as high as 1.642%, a more than one-year peak. Meanwhile, the dollar index pared gains, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.

· Some investors view gold as a hedge against higher inflation that could follow stimulus measures, but higher Treasury yields dull some of the appeal of the non-yielding commodity.

· President Joe Biden on Thursday signed his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill into law and said he was working to move the United States closer to normality by July 4.

· “With physical demand providing something of a floor, we doubt that the gold price will fall below $1,600 per ounce this year,” Capital Economics analysts said in a note.

“Given our forecast for industrial metals prices to fall later this year, we wouldn’t be surprised if the price of silver fell relative to the price of gold.”

· Silver fell 0.9% to $25.85 an ounce, but was on track for its first weekly gain in four weeks.

· Palladium rose 0.9% to $2,366.35.

· Platinum gained 0.5% to $1,200.41 an ounce and was up 6.3% for the week.

· U.S. producer prices moderate in February but momentum is upward

The producer price index for final demand rose 0.5% in February, the Labor Department said Friday.

The gain in February wholesale prices can be traced to higher prices for energy, which climbed 6%. Gasoline prices rose 13.1%.

The index for final demand services inched up 0.1% in February after a strong 1.3% gain in the prior month.

In the 12 months through February, the PPI accelerated 2.8% after rising 1.7% in the in the prior month.

Year-over-year inflation readings accelerate to 2.8%, biggest since October 2018

The core PPI index rose 2.2% over the past 12 months, up from 2%.

Big picture: The outlook for inflation is a concern for investors in the wake of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law Thursday by President Joe Biden. Some economists think the burst of government spending will cause the economy to overheat.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said he thinks the rise in prices will be temporary. It will take until the summer to know whether this is the case.

· First U.S. stimulus payments to hit bank accounts this weekend: officials

Americans will see the first direct deposits from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package hit their bank accounts this weekend, Treasury and Internal Revenue Service officials said on Friday.

· Fed to Hike Rates in 2023 But Dots Won’t Show It, Economists Say

A strong recovery from the Covid-19 recession is likely to prompt Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues to lift interest rates in 2023, but that isn’t going to show up in their forecasts this week, a survey showed.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News see two quarter-point hikes in 2023. But they also expect the U.S. central bank’s own forecast, released at the same time as its policy statement at 2 p.m. in Washington on Wednesday, will show the median Fed official projecting rates staying on hold near zero throughout that year.

Such a result would match the Fed’s December projections, even though U.S. lawmakers have backed almost $3 trillion in fiscal stimulus since then, including $1.9 trillion that President Joe Biden signed into law on Thursday, which -- together with accelerating vaccinations -- is boosting the economic outlook.

· CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:
COVID-19 infections are still rising in 60 countries.

Global Cases: 120.40 (+358,883)

Global Deaths: 2.66M (+5,488)

No. 1

U.S. Cases: 30.08M (+36,535)

U.S. Deaths: 547,220 (+615)

No.2-6

Brazil Cases: 11.48M (+44,120)

India Cases: 11.38M (+26,514)

Russia Cases: 4.39M (+10,083)

UK Cases: 4.25M (+4,618)

France Cases: 4.07 (+26,343)

No.10 Germany Cases: 2.57M (+8,985)
Germany Deaths: 73,959 (52)

No.116

Thailand Cases: 26,927 (+170)

Thailand Deaths: 86

TOP 3 NEW CASES:
1. Brazil (+44,120)
2. U.S. (+36,896)
3. India (+26,514)

TOP 3 NEW DEATHS:

1. Brazil (+1,111)
2. Mexico (+639)
3. U.S. (+629)

· U.S. tops 100 million Covid vaccine doses administered, 13% of adults now fully vaccinated

The United States on Friday topped 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses administered, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 35 million people have been fully vaccinated, accounting for 13.5% of the adult U.S. population, according to the CDC. Over 65.9 million people have received at least one shot of the two-dose regimens, the CDC said.

· Fauci points to Covid surge in Europe as warning against lifting U.S. restrictions right now

White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned state leaders on Sunday that the nation’s battle with the coronavirus is still “not in the end zone,” and urged Americans to adhere to public health measures as Europeans experience new infection spikes.

· Germany declares a Covid ‘third wave’ has begun; Italy set for Easter lockdown

· German COVID cases could revisit December peak in April

German health experts warned on Saturday against any further easing of coronavirus lockdown measures as the number of cases jumped again, raising the possibility that infections could again reach peaks seen around Christmas by mid-April.

· Italy toughens Covid restrictions, imposes Easter lockdown

Most of Italy, including its capital Rome and its financial center Milan, will have curbs on business and movement intensified from Monday as the government ramps up its efforts to stem a steady rise in coronavirus cases.

The country will also be placed under a nationwide lockdown over the Easter weekend for the second year running, the government said on Friday.

· French must avoid lockdown as infections hold above 26,000: PM says

France must do everything to avoid a new coronavirus lockdown as pressure on hospitals grows, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Sunday as the country reported more than 26,000 new cases.

The French government has so far resisted pressure from some health experts to impose a new, third lockdown in the face of rising case numbers.

“The situation is not getting better, there is a higher and higher number of infections and hospitals are very burdened with many patients, whose average age is getting lower and who don’t always have comorbidities,” Castex said.

· Australia records first local COVID-19 case in two weeks

· Singapore PM says may reopen borders by year-end

· Global vaccination:

So far 122 countries have begun vaccinating people for the coronavirus and have administered at least 355,078,000 doses of the vaccine.

Gibraltar leads the world and has administered enough vaccine doses for 68% of its population, assuming every person needs two doses.

· France approves J&J's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine

The European Medicines agency (EMA) approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Thursday, paving the way for the first shots to be delivered in a month.

· Ireland latest country to suspend AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

· Netherlands halts use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

· Italy's Piedmont region stops use of AstraZeneca vaccine batch

· AstraZeneca finds no evidence of increased blood clot risk from vaccine

AstraZeneca Plc said on Sunday a review of safety data of people vaccinated with its COVID-19 vaccine has shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.

· Lower Spanish growth expected this year, bank governor says, with hopes pinned on vaccine rollout

The Bank of Spain had said the economy would grow 6.8% in 2021 and it would reach its pre-pandemic levels by next year.

· U.S. companies face record $10.5 trillion in debt—Here’s what to know about the corporate bond ‘bubble’

U.S. companies now face the highest levels of debt on record — more than $10.5 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or SIFMA.

The coronavirus pandemic is only part of the story.

Sometimes companies can get reckless with debt, and this can result in bonds facing downgrades and low ratings, putting those companies at junk bond status. Overborrowing can result in companies becoming “fallen angels” or “zombie” companies.

Between rising interest rates and inflation concerns, Wall Street is watching the bond market closely and checking the pulse of the U.S. economy.

· Biden, Japan PM Suga likely to meet in Washington on April 9: media

· Germany’s CDU and SPD are ‘neck to neck’ in regional electoral race, politician says

Ellen Demuth, CDU MdL for Rhineland-Palatinate, discusses Germany’s electoral landscape amid the country’s race to the polls.

· India to propose cryptocurrency ban, penalising miners, traders -source

India will propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, fining anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets, a senior government official told Reuters in a potential blow to millions of investors piling into the red-hot asset class.

· Bitcoin falls 1.8% to $60,077.32

Bitcoin dropped 1.78% to $60,077.32 on Sunday, losing $1,087.87 from its previous close.

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is down 2.8% from the year’s high of $61,781.83 on March 13.

· Protesters killed, Chinese factories burn, call for self defense as military crackdown in Myanmar escalates

· Houthi missile attack kills three children in Yemen's Taiz, residents say

Yemen’s Houthi forces fired a missile on Sunday at a school in the Taiz region where pro-government forces are stationed, killing 15 soldiers, as well as three children who were nearby, two residents and military sources said.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Worldometers, Market Watch, BNNBloomberg