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Gold falls as yields tick up, dollar firms

·         Gold fell on Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields nudged up and the dollar hit a four-month high, denting the non-yielding metal’s appeal.

 

·         Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,727.01 per ounce. U.S. gold futures settled down 0.5% at $1,725.10.

 

·         U.S. benchmark Treasury yields were slightly up, increasing the opportunity cost of holding bullion.

 

·         The dollar index gained 0.4%, having hit its highest level since Nov. 13 at 91.92 earlier in the session, making gold more expensive for other currency holders.

 

·         “You’re seeing a big differential in government bond rates between the U.S. and other European countries and that is causing increased flows into the greenback and that is weighing on precious metals,” said Kitco Metals senior analyst Jim Wyckoff.

 

“The momentum (for gold) is on the bearish side, so you’re going to have to see prices rebound a little bit for the bulls to gain some confidence that some kind of upward sustainability can be achieved.”

 

·         Gold’s losses came despite sentiment in wider financial markets being weakened by a new round of coronavirus restrictions in the euro zone.

 

·         Silver fell 0.3% to $25.01 an ounce, having earlier fallen to a more than two-month low of $24.39.

 

·         Silver should find support around $24-$25 and then rise modestly over the course of April following a likely move up in gold and on investor hopes for stronger industrial fabrication demand metal, said Jeffrey Christian, managing partner of CPM Group.

·         Palladium fell 0.8% to $2,612.48 and platinum slipped 1.4% to $1,151.00.

 

·         While there could be more platinum supply from South Africa this year, rising auto demand will likely spur shortfalls in coming years, Commerzbank said in a note.

Palladium will likely remain “severely undersupplied” this year, with prices as high as $3,000 “conceivable” the bank added, raising forecasts for both autocatalyst metals.

 

·         Global bond rout not over, another sell-off likely before mid-year: Reuters poll

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit 1.7540% on March 18, a level not seen since January 2020 - before the pandemic sent yields and stocks crashing. It was forecast to rise about 15 basis points from that high to 1.90% in a year.

 

·         Senate extends pandemic assistance for small businesses for 2 months

The Senate on Thursday voted to extend the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program just a week before it was slated to expire.

Senators voted 92 to 7 to pass the PPP Extension Act of 2021, which extends the program to May 31 instead of the current March 31 deadline and gives the SBA another 30 days to process loans. 

Next, the bill will be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The White House has indicated its support for extending the program to support small businesses.

 

·         Powell praises economic recovery and sees Fed pulling back help after ‘substantial’ progress

Powerful fiscal help from Congress combined with accelerated vaccine distribution has allowed the U.S. economy to recover faster than expected, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday.

At some point, that will allow the central bank to dial back the help it has provided, though he said now is not that time.

 

·         Fed's Daly says U.S. job market is 'in a ditch'

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly on Thursday said the U.S job market was “definitely still in a ditch,” with the economy still nearly 10 million jobs short of where it was before the COVID-19 crisis.

·         Fed's Barkin says inflation to fall back next year

Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin on Thursday said he believes inflation will fall back next year after spiking this year.

 

·         Fed's Evans says need patience to allow inflation to rise

Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans on Thursday said he is nervous about too-low inflation.

 

·         Weekly jobless claims tumble to lowest level in more than a year

First-time claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly fell sharply last week amid signs that hiring has picked up in the U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

 

·         U.S. GDP growth in fourth quarter raised slightly to 4.3% – and all signs point to economy speeding up

 

·         Fed says banks will have to wait until June 30 to start issuing buybacks and bigger dividends

Banks will be able to accelerate dividends and buybacks to shareholders this year, but not until June 30 and provided they pass the current round of stress tests, the Federal Reserve announced Thursday.

 

·         CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

COVID-19 infections are still rising in 88 countries.

Global Cases: 126.03 (+607,270)

Global Deaths: 2.76M (+9,993)

 

No. 1

U.S. Cases: 30.76M (+62,690)

U.S. Deaths: 559,605 (+1,026)

 

No.2

Brazil Cases: 12.32M (+97,586)

Brazil Deaths: 303,726 (+2,639)

 

No. 3

India Cases: 11.84M (+59,069)

India Deaths: 160,983(+257)

 

No.4-7

Russia Cases: 4.49M (+9,221)

France Cases: 4.42 (+45,641)

UK Cases: 4.31M (+6,220)

Italy Cases : 3.46 (+23,696)

 

No.116

Thailand Cases: 28,443 (+97)

Thailand Deaths: 92

  

·         Brazil hits record 100,000 coronavirus cases in a day, piling pressure on Bolsonaro

·         Global Vaccination

So far, at least 138 countries have begun vaccinating people for the coronavirus and have administered at least 488,579,000 doses of the vaccine.

 

·         Biden sets goal of 200 million U.S. COVID-19 shots in his first 100 days

 

 

·         California, Florida, North Carolina announce expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility

 

·         U.S. COVID response could have avoided hundreds of thousands of deaths: research

 

·         Novavax delays EU vaccine supply deal amid production problems – source

 

·         EU leaders agree to step up COVID-19 vaccine production in Europe

 

 

·         EU turns up heat on Astrazeneca as new COVID-19 wave surges

 

EU leaders voiced frustration on Thursday over a massive shortfall in contracted deliveries of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, as a third wave of infections surged across Europe.

 

 

·         No more vaccine exports until you fulfill your contracts, EU tells AstraZeneca

 

·         EU asks Britain, others, to export vaccines as it does

The head of the European Commission said on Thursday Europe was the biggest vaccine exporter in the world and challenged other producers of COVID-19 jabs to match that openness.

The EU has been criticised, especially by vaccine-maker Britain, for “vaccine nationalism” because of its recently introduced vaccine exports monitoring mechanism designed to explain why the EU is not getting the shots it contracted from pharmaceutical companies, notably AstraZeneca.

 

·         Dutch PM is cautiously optimistic EU-UK vaccine dispute can end soon

 

·         EU leaders make good on trade promises with Turkey, but threaten sanctions

 

·         Suez Canal blockage is delaying an estimated $400 million an hour in goods

The Suez Canal, which separates Africa from Asia, is one of the busiest trade routes in the world, with approximately 12% of total global trade moving through it. Energy exports like liquified natural gas, Crude oil, and refined oil make up 5% to 10% of global shipments. The rest of the traffic is largely consumer products ranging from fire pits to clothing, furniture, manufacturing, auto parts and exercise equipment.

·         China sanctions UK entities, individuals for Xinjiang 'lies'

 

·         Biden says China won't surpass U.S. as global leader on his watch

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would prevent China from passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world, vowing to invest heavily to ensure America prevails in the race between the world’s two largest economies.

 

·         Japan complains over U.S. military's use of term 'East Sea'

The U.S. military landed in hot water with Japanese officials on Thursday when a spokesman used the term “East Sea” to refer to the wedge of sea between Japan, Russia, and the Korean peninsula where North Korea tested missiles earlier in the day.

“We are aware of North Korean missile launches this morning into the East Sea,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Captain Mike Kafka said in the only initial official statement from the U.S. government.

 

·         North Korea says it tested new 'tactical guided projectile' on Thursday: KCNA

North Korea launched a “newly developed new-type tactical guided projectile” on Thursday, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday, as the United States condemned the launches and warned of a threat to international peace and security.

 

·         Biden warns of responses if North Korea escalates, but open to diplomacy

 

·         Nine more protesters in Myanmar killed, Britain and U.S. impose sanctions on military busineses

 

Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Worldometers, Market Watch