Gold futures on Thursday remained buoyant for a second session, as some experts foresee a lower-for-longer, interest-rate regime buttressing the yellow metal, even as anxieties around a novel strain of coronavirus in China has appeared to ebb.
“While safe-haven demand for gold may fade as the coronavirus outbreak is brought under control, the yellow metal also has fundamental support from low real rates, which reduce the opportunity cost of holding gold, and is likely to benefit if the US dollar weakens as we expect,” wrote a team at UBS led by Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer, in a Thursday research report.
Gold for April delivery GCJ20, +0.19%[1] on Comex added $6.60, or 0.4%, to $1,569.40 an ounce, after rising 0.5% in the previous session.
March silver SIH20, +0.64%[2] added 25 cents, or 1.4%, to $17.6 an ounce, after settling 0.2% higher on Wednesday.
The modest gains come as stocks in the U.S., and globally, were set to stage a fourth straight gain, as China announced it would halve tariffs[3] on $75 billion of U.S. imports, starting next week, coming after the signing of the phase one U.S.-China trade deal in January.
The tariff reductions come as coronavirus has claimed[4] at least 565 lives and infected more than 28,000 people, according to China’s National Health Commission. But investors appear ready to bet that the outbreak
“Gold prices remain resilient even though a risk-on...