Comex Gold futures climbed on Monday to yet another seven-year high as the US dollar weakened and risk worries eased. Silver though fell, oil was weak, but copper rose as did iron ore.
In fact, equity investors are now looking at the US first-quarter earnings season due to start tonight (see separate story) with reports from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
The US Federal Reserve eased back on the pace of its daily and monthly repo operations, starting May 4 the number of repo deals on offer will be halved from two a day to one.
That tells us the US central bank is happy about the amount of liquidity in the US financial system with the strains of March and early April having eased.
The COVID-19 fears continue with the pace of deaths and new cases easing in the US and Europe, finding support as investors eyed losses in the stock market and weighed expectations for further moves by central banks and fiscal policymakers to boost the global economy.
The weaker US dollar saw the Aussie rise above 64 US cents for the first time since March 11. It was trading around that level just before 6 am Tuesday.
That saw Comex gold for June delivery climb $US8.60, or 0.5%, to settle at $US1,761.40 an ounce. That was the highest finish for a most-active contract since October 11, 2012, according to Dow Jones.
Gold had hit a more than seven-year high on Thursday, even as stocks that day scored their biggest weekly advance since 1974.
The most-active Comex May silver contract shed 51.6 cents, or 3.2%, to $US15.537 an ounce. That followed a rise of 5.6% on Thursday.
Comex, May copper rose 4.3 cents, or 1.9%, to settle at $US2.3025 a pound.
The Metal Bulletin said the price of 62% Fe fines delivered to northern China rose 1% to $US85.60 a tonne.
