· Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,868.27 per ounce by 0314 GMT, after hitting its highest since Jan. 29 at $1,873.41 earlier in the day. U.S. gold futures were steady at $1,868.30.
· “Gold ETFs have actually started to pick up again this month, which is positive because the market is reading higher inflation, at least over the short term,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
· The dollar index slipped 0.1% to hit a one-week low against its rivals, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.
· “Prices of gold contracts have broken through a major resistance trendline sloping down from the $2,000 highs,” Avtar Sandu, a senior commodities manager at Phillip Futures, said in a note.
· “If gold longs are able to convincingly push prices higher, it is very likely that bulls would gun for the $1,950 level.”
· Elsewhere, silver jumped 0.8% to $28.40 per ounce, after hitting its highest since Feb. 2 earlier in the session.
· Palladium gained 0.4% to $2,911.63 and platinum climbed 0.1% to $1,241.
· Copper rises; ShFE zinc at 13-1/2-year high on supply concerns
Copper prices rose on Tuesday, as a weaker U.S. dollar made the greenback-priced metals cheaper and more attractive to holders of other currencies, while zinc prices in Shanghai climbed to their highest in more than 13 years on supply concerns in China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.2% at $10,497 a tonne by 0704 GMT, while the most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 1.9% at 76,100 yuan ($11,842.51) a tonne.
ShFE zinc jumped as much as 6.1% to its highest since November 2007 at 23,535 yuan a tonne and LME zinc rose as much as 3.1% to $3,108.50 a tonne, its strongest peak since June 2018.
· U.S. companies are bearing the brunt of Trump’s China tariffs, says Moody’
American businesses are bearing most of the cost burden from the elevated tariffs imposed at the height of the U.S.-China trade war, said Moody’s Investors Service.
The ratings agency said in a Monday report that U.S. importers absorbed more than 90% of additional costs resulting from the 20% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods.
That means U.S. importers pay around 18.5% more in price for a Chinese product subject to that 20% tariff rate, while Chinese exporters receive 1.5% less for the same product, according to the report.
· UK unemployment falls again as firms readied for lockdown easing
Britain's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell again to 4.8% between January and March, a period which the country spent under a tight COVID lockdown, and hiring rose further in April, datashowed on Tuesday.
Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected the unemployment rate to hold at 4.9%.
· Japan’s economy slumps back into decline as COVID-19 hits spending
Japan’s economy shrank more than expected in the first quarter as a slow vaccine rollout and new COVID-19 infections hit spending on items such as dining out and clothes, raising concerns the country will lag others emerging from the pandemic.
Capital expenditure also fell unexpectedly and export growth slowed sharply, a sign the world's third-largest economy is struggling for drivers to pull it out of the doldrums.
The economy shrank an annualised 5.1% in the first quarter, more than the forecast 4.6% contraction and following an 11.6% jump in the previous quarter, government data showed on Tuesday.
The decline was mainly due to a 1.4% drop in private consumption as state of emergency curbs to combat the pandemic hit spending for clothing and dining out.
· South Africa's weak growth could fuel socioeconomic tensions - Moody's
South Africa’s low economic growth and rising debt burden could see socioeconomic tension intensify and impede policy reforms, ratings firm Moody’s said in a research note on Tuesday.
· Taiwan mobilises diplomats to seek out COVID-19 shots
Taiwan is mobilising its diplomatic corps to secure a speedier delivery of COVID-19 vaccines - a quest that has become more urgent since a sudden rise in domestic cases on an island that has vaccinated less than 1% of its population.
· World Economic Forum cancels 2021 meeting planned for Singapore
· Myanmar activists say more than 800 killed by security forces since coup
More than 800 people have been killed by Myanmar’s security forces since a wave of protests broke out across the country after the military seized power in a coup in February, an activist group said.
· Israel-Gaza violence shows few signs of slowing as global diplomacy ramps up
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