PT Rifan Financindo Berjangka – Gold Rises as China’s Central Bank Resumes Buying After Pause
Gold rose on Monday after China’s central bank added bullion to its reserves in November — ending a six-month pause in a buying binge that had provided a major pillar of support for the precious metal.
Bullion rose as much as 0.6% to trade just below $2,650 an ounce, after the People’s Bank of China said Saturday it bought 160,000 troy ounces last month. The addition was the first since April, before the central bank halted purchases for 18 months that had helped prop up prices amid strong interest from global public institutions.
China led demand in the first quarter of this year, and is the top buyer in 2023, according to the World Gold Council. The resumption of purchases suggests the PBOC is still looking to diversify its reserves and guard against currency depreciation, even with bullion at historically expensive levels. Traders were also monitoring developments in Syria over the weekend, after President Bashar al-Assad was ousted as rebel forces seized the capital Damascus. U.S. airstrikes hit dozens of Islamic State targets in the center of the country on Sunday as President Joe Biden warned that Assad’s fall from power could open the door to a resurgence of Islamic extremism.
Gold surged to an all-time high above $2,790 an ounce in October, supported by the Federal Reserve’s pivot to monetary easing, as well as rising safe-haven demand amid tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine. Prices have eased since then as the dollar strengthened following Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory, but remain more than a quarter higher this year. Spot gold rose 0.4% to $2,643.58 an ounce as of 7:18 a.m. in Singapore, following a 0.4% decline last week. Silver, platinum and palladium edged up.
Source:Bloomberg
Gold Edges Higher After US Jobs Report Supports Rate Cut Bets
Gold prices inched up on Friday after the November U.S. job growth report suggested the labor market continues to ease gradually, leaving room for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again.
Spot gold gained 0.2% to $2,636.31 per ounce by 01:41 p.m. ET (1841 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% higher at $2,659.60.
U.S. job growth surged in November, but this probably does not signal a material shift in labor market conditions that continue to ease steadily and allows the Fed to cut interest rates again this month.
“The data was somewhere in between. We see the nonfarm payroll higher than the forecast, which could be a little bit of a bearish sentiment on gold in the short term, but the private payroll is slightly below the forecast almost by 9,000, this reaffirms the potential Fed cuts in the next couple of weeks,” said Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer at Allegiance Gold.
The U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries yields fell after labour market report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 jobs last month after rising an upwardly revised 36,000 in October. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls accelerating by 200,000.
The prospect of rate cuts, starting with the half basis point reduction in September, has underpinned gold’s record rally this year, as lower rates increase the appeal of holding non-yielding gold.
Traders now see an 87% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at Fed’s December meeting, versus a 72% chance before the payrolls data.
“This report falls mostly into the ‘Goldilocks’ camp, which means the data was not too hot and not too cold. That suggests the Fed can go ahead and cut interest rates at its December meeting,” said Jim Wyckoff, a senior market analyst at Kitco Metals.
Spot silver fell 1.1% to $31 per ounce, but was up for the week.
Platinum eased 1.3% to $925.78 and palladium fell 0.5% to $957.83. Both metals are set for a second straight weekly loss. PT Rifan Financindo Berjangka.
Source : Reuters