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Gold set for first weekly dip in three on higher dollar, yields

Gold prices edged up slightly on Friday, paring a weekly loss as the dollar slipped against most G10 currencies, while bond yields retreated from session highs after the latest US spending data showed declines in February.

·         Spot gold turned 0.2% higher at $1,731.75 an ounce by 2:30 p.m. EST

·         On Friday, June Comex gold futures settled at $1734.70, up $7.40 or +0.43%.

·         Gold futures closed higher on Friday after 10-year U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. Dollar Index pulled back from their intraday highs. The move wasn’t strong enough, however, to erase its first weekly loss in three weeks.

The market has been moving mostly sideways to lower all week with investors buying dips and selling rallies. A firmer dollar and rising yields have been pressuring gold, but rising coronavirus cases and lockdowns in Europe as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s loose policy have been lifting prices. The direction has been unclear with the price action suggesting both investor indecision and impending volatility.

·         Gold Price Analysis: Bulls holding the fort in $1,730

Gold bulls seek a test of hourly resistance ahead of a break of the daily 21 EMA.

The following illustrates the market structure and where the next opportunity could come of a bullish surge.

Gold Daily Chart

The price is holding daily support and there are prospects of an extension of the current correction.

DXY daily chart

Meanwhile, there are bearish prospects at least for the meanwhile, as we approach quarter-end and the price as measured by the DXY starts to correct.

If the bulls can hold and get above the current resistance, then there are meanwhile expectations of a test of prior resistance.

 

·         ‘Red hot’ economy would withstand 10-year Treasury yields at 3%, market bull Ed Yardeni predicts

Yardeni predicts current market conditions will push the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note yield between 2.5% and 3% within the next 12 to 18 months.

 

·         CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

COVID-19 infections are still rising in 88 countries.

 

Global Cases: 127.74 (+472,737)

Global Deaths: 2.79M (+6,516)

 

No. 1

U.S. Cases: 30.95M (+40,337)

U.S. Deaths: 562,488 (+472)

 

No.2

Brazil Cases: 12.53M (+44,326)

Brazil Deaths: 312,299 (+1,605)

 

No. 3

India Cases: 12.03M (+68,206)

India Deaths: 161,881(+295)

 

No.116

Thailand Cases: 28,734 (+77)

Thailand Deaths: 94 (+1)

 

·         Covid-19 Vaccination

So far, at least 141 countries have begun vaccinating people for the coronavirus and have administered at least 540,592,000 doses of the vaccine.

Gibraltar leads the world and has administered enough vaccine doses for 86% of its population, assuming every person needs two doses.

 

·         Covid cases are rising and hospitalizations have plateaued even as vaccinations increase

 

·         Birx says COVID death toll in U.S. would have been mitigated with earlier action

 

Dr. Deborah Birx, who coordinated the White House coronavirus task force under President Donald Trump, believes the COVID-19 death toll in the United States would have been substantially lower if the government had responded more effectively.

 

 

·         Mexico says country’s true Covid death toll is 60% higher than official test-confirmed number

 

·         UK's Johnson urges caution as some lockdown measures ease

Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Britons to be cautious as a stay-at-home order and some other lockdown measures are lifted in England, citing rising cases in other parts of Europe and the threat posed by new variants of the virus.

The government will also set up a new Office for Health Promotion to help tackle obesity, improve mental health and promote exercise. Johnson himself said he was “too fat” when he became gravely ill with COVID-19 last year.

 

·         More than 30 million Britons have received first COVID-19 vaccine dose

 

·         Germany must suppress virus now or risk losing control, Merkel aide says

 

·         Merkel presses German states to get tough with COVID curbs

 

·         French COVID-19 patient numbers rise again, adding to pressure for new lockdown

 

·         Doctors issue warning over rise in French COVID-19 intensive care patients

 

·         U.N. negotiating with China for unfettered access to Xinjiang: Guterres tells CBC

 

·         China sanctions U.S. religious freedom officials, Canadian member of parliament

China has imposed sanctions against two U.S. religious rights officials, a Canadian member of parliament and a subcommittee on human rights in Canada’s House of Commons, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement released Saturday.

The sanctions are the latest escalation in a growing dispute between Western nations and Beijing over the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in China, particularly the province of Xinjiang.

 

·         Iran and China sign agreement aimed at strengthening their economic and political alliance

 

·         Philippines sends fighter aircraft over Chinese vessels in South China Sea

 

 

·         North Korea accuses U.N. Security Council of 'double standard' over missile tests

 

·         Myanmar mourns bloodiest day since coup, UN investigator condemns ‘mass murder’

 

Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Worldometers, FXEmprie, FXStreet, Mining.com