Gold nudges higher as weaker dollar lends support
· Gold prices inched up on Thursday, extending gains into a third session as a softer dollar made the metal cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.
· Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,784.96 per ounce by 0146 GMT. U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,784.60.
· Bullion prices have traded between $1,759 and $1,788 this week. A weaker dollar on Thursday kept the metal close to the higher end of this range.
· Two U.S. Federal Reserve officials said on Wednesday while the central bank should begin winding down its stimulus measures, it was too soon for interest rate hikes.
· The Bank of England will be the first major central bank to raise interest rates in the post-pandemic cycle but economists polled by Reuters think the first hike will not come until early next year, later than markets are pricing in.
· Gold is often considered an inflation hedge, though reduced stimulus and interest rate hikes push government bond yields up, translating into a higher opportunity cost for holding bullion which pays no interest.
· Russia’s gold reserves stood at 73.9 million troy ounces as of the start of October, the central bank said on Wednesday.
· Spot silver rose 0.3% to $24.33 an ounce, while platinum gained 0.1% to $1,051.12 and palladium fell 0.3% to $2,066.53.
· Russia’s Nornickel, the world’s largest palladium producer, said its palladium production in the third quarter increased 9% to 598,000 troy ounces, while platinum output increased 8% to 145,000 troy ounces.
· Gold nudges higher as weaker dollar lends support
· Gold prices inched up on Thursday, extending gains into a third session as a softer dollar made the metal cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.
· Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,784.96 per ounce by 0146 GMT. U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,784.60.
· Bullion prices have traded between $1,759 and $1,788 this week. A weaker dollar on Thursday kept the metal close to the higher end of this range.
· Two U.S. Federal Reserve officials said on Wednesday while the central bank should begin winding down its stimulus measures, it was too soon for interest rate hikes.
· The Bank of England will be the first major central bank to raise interest rates in the post-pandemic cycle but economists polled by Reuters think the first hike will not come until early next year, later than markets are pricing in.
· Gold is often considered an inflation hedge, though reduced stimulus and interest rate hikes push government bond yields up, translating into a higher opportunity cost for holding bullion which pays no interest.
· Russia’s gold reserves stood at 73.9 million troy ounces as of the start of October, the central bank said on Wednesday.
· Spot silver rose 0.3% to $24.33 an ounce, while platinum gained 0.1% to $1,051.12 and palladium fell 0.3% to $2,066.53.
· Russia’s Nornickel, the world’s largest palladium producer, said its palladium production in the third quarter increased 9% to 598,000 troy ounces, while platinum output increased 8% to 145,000 troy ounces.
· Gold Price Forecast: Will XAU/USD find acceptance above channel hurdle at $1791?
Immediate upside in gold price is seen capped at the rising trendline resistance at $1791. A sustained break above the latter will yield an upside breakout from the channel, opening doors towards the previous week’s high of $1801.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is turning slightly lower but holds well above the midline, suggesting that the upside bias still remains in place in the near term.
Also, the bull cross, represented by the 21-Simple Moving Average (SMA) having cut the 50-SMA from above, adds credence to some additional gains.
However, selling resurgence could see gold price falling back towards the confluence of the 21 and 50-SMAs at $1775.
The next relevant downside target is aligned at the rising trendline support at $1771. A four-hourly closing below the latter will confirm a rising channel breakdown, exposing the immediate support at the bearish 200-SMA at $1769.
Further south, the upward-pointing 100-SMA at $1764 could come to the buyers’ rescue.
· Dollar Up, Pound Up as BOE Signals Earlier-Than- Expected Interest Rate Hike
The dollar was up, with the pound was just shy of its Tuesday peak on Thursday morning in Asia, over firming expectations that the Bank of England (BOE) will hike interest rates as soon as November 2021.
Commodity currencies stood near multi-month highs, with strong raw material prices and increasing risk sentiment turning investors away from the safe-haven U.S. currency, which had recently been boosted by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin asset tapering.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched up 0.02% to 93.558 by 12:36 AM ET (4:36 AM GMT).
The USD/JPY pair inched down 0.10% to 114.14.
The AUD/USD pair edged up 0.14% to 0.7526 while the NZD/USD pair edged down 0.15% to 0.7190.
The USD/CNY pair inched down 0.02% to 6.3925 and the GBP/USD pair inched down 0.05% to 1.3817.
Across the Atlantic, the Fed is widely expected to announce the beginning of asset tapering at its meeting in November 2021. However, it is not expected to begin interest rate hikes until 2022.
· For bank regulators, tech giants are now too big to fail
More than a decade on from the financial crisis, regulators are spooked once again that some companies at the heart of the financial system are too big to fail. But they're not banks.
This time it's the tech giants including Google (GOOGL.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) that host a growing mass of bank, insurance and market operations on their vast cloud internet platforms that are keeping watchdogs awake at night.
· Britain secures COVID-19 antivirals from Merck and Pfizer
Britain said on Wednesday it had secured deals for two COVID-19 antivirals, one developed by Merck and the other by Pfizer, which it said could be used to treat patients by the end of the year if regulatory approval is granted.
· Gulf economies to pick up speed next year, with fall in oil prices biggest risk
Economies in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council will grow faster next year than previously thought, according to a Reuters poll of economists who warned a decline in oil and gas prices was the biggest risk to their outlook.
· BOJ says Japan's banking system stable, warns of risks
Japan’s banking system remains stable as a whole but faces risks such as a possible increase in financial institutions’ credit costs caused by a delay in the country’s economic recovery, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said on Thursday.
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