Gold prices fell on Tuesday as the dollar firmed and as shares rose on hopes of a rebound in China economic activity, while safe-haven demand amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak kept the metal on track for its sixth straight quarterly gain.
Spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,614.41 per ounce by 0824 GMT. It gained about 6.4% for the quarter, and around 1.8% for the month. US gold futures eased 0.2% to $1,615.50.
"The dollar, yields, and a better equity market performance are pressuring gold," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at financial services firm AxiCorp, adding that the negative correlation between equities and gold has started to form again.
Weighing further on gold, Russia's central bank announced it would stop buying gold starting April 1 and offered no explanation behind the decision.
"However, it's not catching traders by surprise as lower oil prices mean fewer petro dollars per barrel for the central bank to buy gold ... If oil prices remain depressed, there will probably be a similar curtailment of bullion purchases across other oil-exporting central banks," Axicorp's Innes said.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.