This post was originally published on this site
Gold futures climbed modestly Friday morning, as U.S. stocks attempted to rebound from one of the worst sell-offs since the COVID-19 pandemic roiled markets in March.
Bullion investors caution that gold, which has been buoyed by government and central bank stimulus measures across the globe, may require a fresh spark to bust out of a trading range around $1,700 an ounce.
“Gold is well supported by monetary policy, but likely needs further catalysts to break higher in the very near term,” wrote UBS strategist Joni Teves, in a research report dated Thursday.
“We think market participants are likely to remain cautious about adding or building positions at this stage,” the UBS analyst wrote.
August gold GCQ20, +0.50% rose $7, or 0.4%, at $1,746.80 an ounce on Comex, after surging 1.1% on Thursday to mark the highest settlement for a most-active contract since June 1, according to FactSet data.
For the week, the yellow metal is on pace for a weekly gain of 3.5% based on last Friday’s settlement of the most-active contract.
“Gold has been range-bound for the last couple of months since it first tried to break $1,750 only to quickly run out of steam,” wrote Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a Friday research report.
Bullion’s action on Thursday was prompted partly by evidence that the number of U.S. coronavirus infections were rising, with recent reports indicating that Arizona and Texas are showing increased cases.
Worries about the economic outlook, combined with the public-health concerns, combined to rock global risk assets on Thursday, which were staging a modest comeback on Friday.
Among other metals Wednesday, July silver SIN20, -0.69% shed 18 cents, or 1%, at $17.710 an ounce, following a 0.5% climb in the previous session, with the metal on pace for a 1.3% weekly gain.
