· Gold prices rose on Monday as a retreat in U.S. Treasury yields and worries over surging COVID-19 cases in some countries boosted the metal’s appeal, while palladium held firm after surpassing the $3,000-per-ounce level in the previous session.
· Spot gold was up 0.5% at $1,777.67 per ounce by 0737 GMT. Trading in Asian hours was low due to public holidays in China and Japan. U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,777.60 per ounce.
· “The pandemic situation in Japan and India remains a key concern among market participants, so that’s driving up the demand for safe-haven assets, including gold,” said Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX, adding that retreating U.S.
· Treasury yields lent further support. Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields retreated after hitting their highest in nearly two weeks last week. Lower bond yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.
· India on Monday reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a twelfth straight day, taking its overall caseload to just shy of 20 million.
· The dollar index slipped 0.1%, after hitting a near two-week high earlier in the session, raising gold’s appeal for other currency holders.
· Investors now look forward to a raft of U.S. economic data this week, including the ISM manufacturing survey and April payroll numbers, for further clues about recovery in the world’s largest economy.
· On the technical front, “gold has resistance at $1,790 an ounce, followed by a double top and the 100-day moving average in the $1,800 an ounce area. Support is nearby between $1,755 and $1,760 an ounce,” OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said in a note.
· Elsewhere, auto-catalyst metal palladium rose 0.7% to $2,957.50 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $3,007.73 per ounce on Friday over supply concerns.
· Silver was up 0.7% at $26.08 per ounce. Platinum rose 0.4% to $1,202.72.
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