FILE PHOTO: A worker pours gold at the AngloGold Ashanti mine at Obuasi, Ghana October 23, 2003 (REUTERS / Luc Gnago)
London: Gold pulled back from an earlier five-month high yesterday as the dollar clawed back some of the ground it lost after US President Donald Trump said the US currency was too strong.
The metal stayed on track for its best week since June, however, as concerns over tensions in North Korea and the Middle East kept stock markets under pressure.
Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,283.30 an ounce by 1410 GMT, having earlier hit its strongest since early November at $1,287.98 an ounce. US gold futures for June delivery were $7.10 higher at $1,285.20. “Since risk aversion is now in place and equity markets are on the retreat, gold prices are supported, but should this trend reverse, I wouldn’t be surprised to see gold coming under some pressure,” Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said.
Trading volumes in wider markets have been light ahead of the long Easter weekend. While the dollar pulled back some ground, Trump’s comments kept Treasury yields on track for their biggest weekly declines since late 2015, while stock markets fell 0.3 percent in Europe. Fears of a new weapons test by North Korea as a US carrier group sailed towards the region, as well as worries about the forthcoming French presidential election, also kept investors on edge.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday trust had eroded between the United States and Russia under Trump, as Moscow delivered an unusually hostile reception to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a face-off over Syria.
