MTS Help Center

·         Gold fell to its lowest level in more than six months on Thursday, as mounting pressure from trade disputes and the expectation of higher U.S. interest rates continue to weigh on bullion, despite the greenback losing steam.

·         U.S.-driven trade confrontations hurt world stock markets and U.S. and German debt yields on Thursday, while Wall Street felt the additional brunt of a slump in health sector shares.

·         The trade tensions pushed the dollar to test a one-year high against a currency basket, before it fell back as rising inflation in some German regions prompted traders to buy the euro.  

    

·         A strong dollar makes dollar-priced gold costlier for non-U.S. investors and while falling equities, seen as risky assets, usually help safe-haven gold, they have failed to do so this time.

·         "There is some safe-haven demand going into gold but not as much as is going elsewhere, like the dollar or treasuries or safe-haven currencies like the franc," said Capital Economics analyst Simona Gambarini.

·         Spot gold  declined 0.3 percent at $1,248.04 by 1:33 p.m. EDT (1733 GMT). Earlier, it touched $1,246.60, its lowest since mid-December.

 

U.S. gold futures for August delivery settled down $5.10, or 0.4 percent, at $1,251 per ounce.

·         "There’s just too much pressure on gold. Until we see spike in inflation or fall in the dollar, I think we’ll continue to see pressure on the price of gold," said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank.

·         In a nod to dollar bulls, Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren said the central bank should continue to raise interest rates gradually to lower the risk of a major policyerror.                         

·         "The dollar index's strength is mainly powered by hopes for higher rates and rising yields and there seems to be no change in this any time soon," said ThinkMarkets.com in a note.

·         Investors are positioning for a potentially fraught meeting of European Union leaders to discuss issues such as migration, Brexit and trade. They are also looking for indications on thesurvival prospects for the fractious new German coalition.

·         Meanwhile, spot silver lost 0.4 percent at $15.98 an ounce, earlier hitting its lowest since mid-December at $15.88.

·         Palladium slipped 1.4 percent to $933.97 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.7 percent at $850.40 per ounce, having touched $840.50, its lowest since late January 2016.

Reference: Reuters