Gold futures on Monday were headed modestly higher, with the precious metal attempting to claw back from its steepest weekly decline since March 2020.
Bullion’s gains come as a surge in the U.S. dollar was receding somewhat from its highest level since around 10 weeks and its sharpest weekly rise in over a year, which have weighed on dollar-pegged assets, like gold and silver, mightily.
August gold was up $6.70, or 0.4%, at $1,775.70 an ounce, after the metal saw a weekly loss of 5.9%, marking its largest since the week ended March 13, 2020, according to FactSet data,
Meanwhile, benchmark bond yields have been drifting lower rather than climbing as the Federal Reserve officials have signaled that it sees as temporary rising inflation pressures building amid the recovery phase from COVID. On Friday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said he expects the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate in 2022, which sent gold prices back toward session lows.
Thus far, strength in the dollar has potentially been one of the biggest headwinds for gold, which has wither since recently retaking a psychological perch at $1,900.
“Whether gold’s rebound can turn into something more sustainable will depend a lot on which way the greenback goes in the coming days and that will likely be determined by what Fed officials lined up to speak this week say,” wrote Raffi Boyadjian, senior investment analyst at XM, in a research note.
Bullard is slated to speak at an event at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
New York Fed President John Williams is scheduled to deliver keynote remarks at a banking conference at 3 p.m.
Source: Marketwatch