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·         Gold prices rose on Wednesday towards a three-week high scaled in the previous session, helped by a fall in U.S. Treasury yields, while investors awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting for more clues on the policy outlook.

 

·         Spot gold was up 0.4% at $1,803.06 per ounce, as of 0654 GMT, after hitting its highest since June 17 at $1,814.78 on Tuesday.

 

·         U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,803.80 per ounce.

 

·         “A fall in treasury yields is certainly providing some support to gold, whilst we are also seeing some slight weakness in the U.S. dollar during early morning trading, which will also help,” said ING analyst Warren Patterson.

“Rising uncertainty around monetary policies, inflation and increasing risk of equity market volatility should favour safe-haven gold demand,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

“Central banks have increased gold purchases in recent months, offsetting some of the physical demand losses in Q2 2021.”

 

 

·         Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were pinned near their lowest in more than four months. Lower bond yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.

 

·         The dollar index was slightly lower at 92.508 following a 0.4% gain in the previous session.

 

·         Market participants are now awaiting minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting, due at 1800 GMT, which could shed more light on the interest rate trajectory after a hawkish tilt by the U.S. central bank last month.

 

·         “I suspect that these (minutes) will just confirm the Fed is becoming relatively more hawkish, so (we) could see gold trading lower as a result,” ING’s Patterson said.

 

·         Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

 

 

·         Asian share markets stumbled as a bout of risk aversion boosted safe-haven assets.

 

 

·         Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD bulls crave for more gains above $1800

 

Gold price is once again testing bullish commitments above $1800. The 21-Daily Moving Average (DMA) at $1804 limits XAU/USD’s bullish potential ahead of Fed minutes, according to FXStreet’s Dhwani Mehta.

 

Fed minutes could pour cold water on the central bank’s hawkish turn

“Heading into the FOMC minutes showdown, the persistent weakness in the US rates and cautious market mood continue to underpin the yellow metal.”

 

“The next direction for gold depends on the Fed’s June meeting’s minutes dropping in at 18:00 GMT later on Wednesday, which could disappoint the hawks, especially after the world’s powerful central bank delivered a hawkish surprise at its policy meeting last month. In the meantime, the broader market sentiment and covid updates will likely influence gold’s price action.”

 

“Daily closing above $1800 is critical to confirm a bullish reversal. The 21-Daily Moving Average (DMA) at $1804 offers immediate resistance. A firm break above that level will call for a retest of the three-week highs of $1815. The next relevant upside hurdle is aligned around the $1830 level, where the 50 and 200-DMA close in.”

 

“The previous crucial resistance now support of 100-DMA at $1789 could limit any retracement. So long as this level holds, the bulls remain hopeful for further upside. The next relevant cushion for gold bulls is seen at Monday’s low of $1785, below which the $1780 round figure could be brought back into play.”

 

·         TD see gold bouncing back above US$1900 - says the market is wrong on the Fed

 

 

·         Elsewhere, silver rose 0.9% at $26.38 per ounce, palladium gained 0.2% to $2,799.67, and platinum was steady at $1,091.67.

 

·         U.S. and China can co-exist peacefully, says White House’s Kurt Campbell

 

The U.S. and China can co-exist peacefully, and that the relationship should not be viewed as a “new cold war,” said Kurt Campbell, White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific.

 

“There will be periods of uncertainty — perhaps even periods of occasional raised tensions,” he said Tuesday, according to a press release of his comments at an Asia Society event.

 

“Do I believe that China and the United States can co-exist peacefully? Yes, I do,” Campbell said. “But I do think this challenge is going to be enormously difficult for this generation and the next.”

 

 

·         UK housing boom cools as prices fall in June - Halifax

 

Britain's housing market boom showed some signs of cooling in June as prices fell in monthly terms for the first time since January ahead of the scaling back of a tax break for buyers, mortgage lender Halifax said on Wednesday.

 

Prices were 0.5% lower than in May, Halifax said. In annual terms, they stood 8.8% higher than in June 2020 after leaping by the most in 14 years in May when they rose 9.6%.

 

 

·         JPMorgan says India’s post-Covid growth likely to be fueled by public investments and exports, not consumption

 

 

·         New Zealand industry ire grows as closed borders worsen labour shortages

 

·         Sydney locked down for another week as Delta COVID-19 variant spreads

Sydney, home to a fifth of Australia's 25 million people, was plunged into lockdown on June 26 as a Delta variant outbreak persuaded officials to tighten restrictions in a country that has been slow to vaccinate. Strict stay-at-home orders were due to end on Friday, but now remain in place until July 16.

 

 

·         South Korea considers reimposing restrictions as COVID-19 cases surge

South Korea reported its second highest number of daily new COVID-19 cases ever on Wednesday, just days after it began easing social distancing restrictions in some parts of the country, buoyed by an accelerated vaccine rollout.

With the majority of the 1,212 new cases coming from densely populated Seoul, officials extended movement curbs in the capital and surrounding regions for at least another week and are considering pushing restrictions back up to the highest level.

 

 

·         Singapore not counting Sinovac shots in COVID-19 vaccination tally

Singapore has excluded those who received Sinovac Biotech's (SVA.O) shots from its national COVID-19 vaccination count, according to the city-state's health ministry.

"The national vaccination numbers reflect only those vaccinated under the national vaccination programme," the ministry said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

Sinovac's CoronaVac shot is not part of Singapore's national vaccination programme and the city-state has said it is still awaiting critical data from the company.

 

 

·         Japan considering barring all fans at Olympic events - paper

Japan's government is floating proposals that would ban fans from all events at this month's Olympics, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Wednesday, as officials scramble to address public concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

Medical experts have said for weeks that no spectators at the global sporting extravaganza that starts on July 23 would be the least risky option.

Organisers have already banned overseas spectators and set a cap on domestic spectators at 50% of capacity, up to 10,000 people, to contain a lingering outbreak of infections.

 

 

·         Singapore says ASEAN aims to speed up plan to end Myanmar crisis

 

·         Iran takes steps to make enriched uranium metal; U.S., Europe powers dismayed

Iran has begun the process of producing enriched uranium metal, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Tuesday, a move that could help it develop a nuclear weapon and that three European powers said threatened talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.