Mubasher TV
Contact Us Advertising   العربية

Gold edges up as US dollar down, stocks gain

Gold edges up as US dollar down, stocks gain

Mubasher: Gold prices almost rose on Thursday as the dollar went down, while stocks climbed on indication of easing tensions between the US and China.

By 8:16 am, spot gold inched up 0.05% to $1,246.30 per ounce, while US gold futures went up 0.06% to $1,250.70 per ounce.

“[While] market sentiment is neutral today […] we’ve got a little more positive sentiment than we anticipated from US-China trade tensions, which is weighing on the topside,” OANDA Asia and Pacific trading head Stephen Innes told Thomson Reuters.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, went down 0.10% to 96.9510.

Asian equities gained on signs of easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and expectations that China would take concrete steps to support its slowing economy.

China seems to be easing its high-tech industrial development push, known as “Made in China 2025,” which has for long vexed the US, while it purchased substantial amount of American soybeans for the first time since more than six months.

 The precious metal was buoyed by uncertainty around the Brexit deal and signs of the US Federal Reserve’s dovish tone at its meeting next week.

“There is lacklustre movement right now,” Mumbai-based Nirmal Bang Commodities research head Kunal Shah told Reuters, adding that “gold is waiting for a trigger from the upcoming FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting.”

“Market is expecting a more dovish signal from the Fed,” Shah said.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates at its meeting slated for 18 and 19 December, but investors were focusing more on the number of rate hikes in the next year.