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Gold futures fell on Monday, weighed down by a perkier dollar and U.S. equities that were holding at or near record-high levels, but prices for the precious metal finished above the $1,800 mark for a fourth consecutive session.
Some strategists attributed the pullback for bullion to some selling following the precious metal’s sharpest weekly gain in seven weeks.
“Gold prices are retracing once again from their highs after posting their best performance in seven weeks,” wrote Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, in a daily note.
Aslam said gold likely will be supported by reports of the spread of the delta variant of COVID, raising questions about the global economic outlook.
“Looking at the current situation, traders do not want to sell gold due to growing concerns about the Delta variant,” the analyst wrote.
August gold
GCQ21,
GC00,
declined by $4.70, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,805.90 an ounce following a climb of 0.6% on Friday.
Overall, the gold market is in “a holding pattern but with a bias to the upside,” despite a pullback Monday, Jeff Wright, chief investment officer at Wolfpack Capital, told MarketWatch.
“Regaining the $1,800 level and holding it last week was essential to set the tone into U.S. equity earnings season,” he said. “With a rise in market volatility, even for a short time last week it generated some safe haven buying.”
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“Regaining the $1,800 level and holding it last week was essential to set the tone into U.S. equity earnings season.”
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From here, “gold will be seeking direction from interest rate moves on the 10-year along with any potential U.S. equity market pullbacks,” said Wright. Otherwise, gold may be heading back into a trading range from $1,750-$1,850 if no additional catalysts materialize.”
On Friday, the commodity marked its third straight weekly advance and its sharpest rise since May 21, as choppiness in stocks, a tepid U.S. dollar and rapidly receding yields proved a bullish cocktail for bullion in a U.S. holiday-shortened week.
The dollar was up 0.1% on Monday, as gauged by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
a measure of the buck against a half-dozen currencies. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
rose to an intraday record.
A stronger dollar has been one of the primary catalysts for gold. Lower yields for government bonds, with the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
and the 30-year Treasury bond
TMUBMUSD30Y,
near lows not seen since February, also have helped to buoy gold.
Also, silver for September delivery
SIU21,
SI00,
finished little changed at $26.24 an ounce, but September copper
HGU21,
fell by 3 cents, or 0.7%, to $4.32 a pound.
October platinum
PLV21,
tacked on 2.5% to $1,123 an ounce and September palladium
PAU21,
settled at $2,859.30 an ounce, up 1.7%.
