Gold futures weakened on Thursday, after rising to their highest level in nearly a week, as Treasury yields resumed their march higher following Tuesday’s precipitous pullback.
Price action
-
Gold futures
GCZ22,
-0.78%
expiring in December retreated $11, or 0.6%, to $1,659 per ounce on Comex. -
Silver futures
SIZ22,
-1.46%
expiring in December were down 16 cents, or 0.9%, to $18.73 per ounce. -
Palladium futures
PAZ22,
+2.48%
expiring in December rose $50, or 2.3%, to $2,220, while platinum futures
PLF23,
-0.48%
expiring in January were flat at $865 per ounce. -
Copper futures
HGZ22,
+1.24%
for December delivery climbed 6 cents, or 1.7%, to $3.414 per pound.
What’s happening
Gold received a brief reprieve on Wednesday as U.S. stocks soared and Treasury yields recorded their biggest daily drop in more than two years following the Bank of England’s announcement that it would do “whatever it takes” to calm the gilt market which boosted fixed income markets in Europe and the U.S.
See: Here are two reasons the Bank of England had to step in and buy bonds
Rupert Rowling, a market analyst at Kinesis Money, attributed gold’s move back toward its lowest level in more than two years to the latest wave of hawkish rhetoric from senior Federal Reserve officials.
“The Fed’s hawkish policy of raising interest rates has had a doubly negative impact on gold as not only has it made the non-yield bearing asset less attractive, it has also helped strengthen the US dollar to record levels, which given gold’s typically inverse correlation with the greenback has exacerbated its decline,” Rowling wrote in an emailed note to clients.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
