Gold dips 1% as dollar steadies, platinum eases off 6-year peak
· Gold fell 1% on Thursday, as the dollar halted its slide, while platinum also eased in choppy trading after rallying to an over six-year high with analysts expecting further upside driven by higher demand from the automobile sector.
· Spot gold fell 0.9% to $1,826.00 per ounce by 1:47 p.m. EST. U.S. gold futures settled down 0.9% at $1,826.80.
· Making metals more expensive for those holding other currencies, the dollar steadied off a two-week low.
· “Gold’s inability to trade back over $1,850 has triggered profit-taking as the sharp USD decline has eased,” said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO.
“Investor interest seems to have shifted to platinum which has enjoyed a $150 rally over the past week though we are seeing profit-taking at current levels,” he added.
· Platinum eased 0.4% to $1,236.76 per ounce, having jumped as much as 2.2% to its highest level since January 2015 at $1,268.88.
· Palladium fell 0.7% to $2,339.32.
· Platinum’s rally was driven by a relatively tight market “and certainly the investment demand, which is reflected in strong exchange traded fund (ETF) inflows among others,” said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann.
Both platinum and palladium are used by automakers in catalytic converters to clean car exhaust fumes.
· Platinum may see a third consecutive annual deficit in 2021, specialist materials firm Johnson Matthey said in a report on Wednesday.
· “The market has been looking beyond the pandemic - to a recovery in the auto sector, which will eventually happen,” said StoneX analyst Rhona O’Connell.
It will draw support from potential demand for fuel cells, O’Connell said.
· Citi Research analysts expect prices to rise to $1,300 an ounce by the end of the year.
· Elsewhere, spot silver inched 0.1% lower to $26.97 per ounce.
· Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were just shy of record highs.
· U.S. dollar falls vs some currencies; bitcoin climbs to record peak
The dollar fell against some of the major currencies on Thursday, weighed down by slightly weaker-than-expected U.S. jobless claims data that followed tepid inflation numbers and a dovish message from the Federal Reserve the previous session.
In the cryptocurrency sector, bitcoin hit another record of $48,481.45, as it continues its march toward the $50,000 mark. It was last up 6.3% at $47,685, rising after news that BNY Mellon became the latest firm to embrace cryptocurrencies.
In afternoon trading, the euro was up around 0.1% against the dollar at $1.2134. A European Commission forecast that the euro zone economy will rebound less than earlier expected in 2021 did not impact the currency.
The dollar index was down slightly at 90.393. So far the dollar was on track for its largest weekly loss since around mid-December. But prior to this week, the dollar had gained more than 2% since January as investors covered extreme short positions on the currency.
· CORONAVIRUS UPDATES
Global Cases: 108.25 (+417,891)
Global Deaths: 2.37M (+12,423)
U.S. Cases: 27.99M (+95,203)
U.S. Deaths: 486,561(+2,707)
Thailand Cases: 24,104 (+201)
Thailand Deaths: 80
· Africa not 'walking away' from AstraZeneca vaccine, CDC says
· Pelosi aims to finish COVID-19 relief by month's end
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that she expects lawmakers to complete legislation based on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill by the end of February.
· Biden says there will not be enough COVID vaccines by end of summer to vaccinate all Americans
· White House secures deals for 200 million more Covid vaccine doses
President Joe Biden announced Thursday that his administration has secured deals for another 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, bringing the U.S. total to 600 million.
“Just this afternoon, we signed the final contracts for 100 million more Moderna and 100 million more Pfizer vaccines,” Biden said Thursday while on a tour at the National Institutes of Health, adding the U.S. will have enough supply for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
· White House launches clean energy effort, $100 million in technology funding
· White House says no specific decisions on domestic air travel under review
· Fed’s Harker says inflation won’t be posing a threat anytime soon
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker said Thursday that the central bank won’t have to worry about inflation getting in its way anytime soon.
In a CNBC interview, Harker faced a question posed repeatedly to Fed officials in recent days over whether its easy monetary policy could stoke price pressures and interfere with what he described as “a pretty choppy economy.”
Inflation has stayed well below the Fed’s traditional 2% target, with the January Consumer Price Index reading earlier this week reinforcing that while some areas of the economy are experiencing increases, the overall picture remains muted.
· Fed's Barkin: U.S. economy doesn't need 'herd immunity' to rebound
A slower-than-expected vaccine rollout and the rise of coronavirus variants may make attaining herd immunity against the novel coronavirus difficult, but that should not stop the economy from rebounding, a U.S. central banker said Thursday.
“I don’t think the economy requires herd immunity,” Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin told Reuters. “Consumers who get vaccines who have money in their pockets...are going to be free to spend,” he said.
· U.S. labor market struggling, but light at the end of tunnel
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 793,000 for the week ended Feb. 6. Data for the prior week was revised to show 33,000 more claims received than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 757,000 applications for the latest week.
· Biden warns China is going to ‘eat our lunch’ if U.S. doesn’t get moving on infrastructure
President Joe Biden warned lawmakers Thursday that China is aggressively outpacing the United States on infrastructure.
“They’re investing a lot of money, they’re investing billions of dollars and dealing with a whole range of issues that relate to transportation, the environment and a whole range of other things,” Biden said he told a bipartisan group of senators whom he met with in the Oval Office.
“We just have to step up. And so what I’d like to talk to these folks about — since they are the key committee — is how we begin this. I’ve laid out what I think we should be doing,” the president added.
The phone call with Xi and the meeting with lawmakers come as the new U.S. administration works to address human rights abuses and mend trade relations with the world’s second-largest economy.
· BBC World News barred from airing in China: Regulator
British television channel BBC World News has been barred from airing in China, the National Radio and Television Administration said on Friday, a week after Britain’s media regulator revoked Chinese state television’s broadcast licence.
In a statement issued on the stroke of the Lunar New Year, the administration said an investigation found BBC World News’ China-related reports had “seriously violated” regulations, including that news should be “truthful and fair,” had harmed China’s national interests and undermined national unity.
· 'Fighting for Trump:' Democrats say Capitol attackers were answering ex-president's call
Democrats making the case for Donald Trump’s conviction for inciting the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 focused on Thursday on the former president’s role in assembling and inflaming the rioters and the damage wrought in the rampage.
· Biden says Trump 'did not do his job' on coronavirus vaccine program, urges patience
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said the coronavirus vaccination program he inherited from Donald Trump was in “much worse shape” than he had expected, while urging patience and said the government has bought 200 million more doses.
· Draghi wins backing of Italy’s Five-Star Movement, paving way for new government
· Britain, EU reiterate commitment to resolve Northern Ireland protocol issues
· BOE's Haldane predicts possible double-digit annual growth rate in UK a year ahead: Daily Mail
Britain’s annual economic growth rate could be in double digits a year from now, the Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane wrote in a Daily Mail column published online late on Thursday.
Economic recovery should be "one to remember, after a year to forget," Haldane wrote here.
The central banker predicted that British households would have amassed “accidental savings” of up to a massive 250 billion pounds ($345.30 billion) and that there would be a spending boom once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted in the country.
· Mexico central bank cuts interest rates, says outlook uncertain
Battered by the pandemic, Mexico’s economy last year suffered its biggest contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s, shrinking by 8.5%, according to preliminary data.
The Bank of Mexico’s (Banxico) five board members voted unanimously to lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 4%, in line with the consensus forecast of a Reuters poll of economists earlier this week.
· U.S. slaps sanctions on Myanmar in response to military coup
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s acting president and several other military officers and warned the generals there could be more economic punishment as Washington responds to the military coup.
The U.S. Treasury Department said it targeted eight people, including the defense minister, three companies in the jade and gems sector, and updated sanctions on the top two military officials, accusing them of playing a leading role in overthrowing Myanmar’s democratically-elected government.
But Washington stopped short of including the entire Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), the military’s conglomerates that are prevalent throughout Myanmar’s economy.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the coup in Myanmar, also known as Burma, that ousted the civilian-led government and detained elected leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
· U.S. markets regulator raises bar for waivers for sanctioned companies
Businesses that run afoul of U.S. securities laws will not be able to seek a waiver to keep doing certain types of business as part of their settlement negotiations with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulator announced on Thursday.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Worldometers
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