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Gold futures were seeing lackluster trade Monday, with the metal drifting between small gains and losses, but managing to hold above the psychologically significant price at $1,800 in the start to the final week of trading in 2021.
Contracts for gold for February delivery
GCG22,
GC00,
were trading $1.10, or less than 0.1%, higher on Monday, but had traded between $1,814.60 and an intraday low at 1,803.60 an ounce.
Trading on Comex was closed Friday in observance of Christmas last week, when gold put in a weekly advance of 0.4%, which brought it to its highest price since Nov. 19. For the year, gold futures are on track to decline by 4.3%, FactSet data show.
Gold’s trade to start the week comes as the dollar was gaining some traction, with little data and news to constrain the buck in the week following Christmas. Greenbacks were rising 0.1% on the session and have gained nearly 7% so far in 2021, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
A stronger dollar could impede buying in commodities priced in the currency such as precious metals.
“Gold was unable to move past the $1,810 resistance, slipping to around $1,805/oz as the US dollar edged up,” wrote Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at broker XM, in a daily research note.
Meanwhile, March silver
SIH22,
was trading 0.8%, or 19 cents, higher at $23.13 an ounce, on Monday, following a 1.8% weekly gain that left it at its highest price since Nov. 26. Gold’s sister metal, however, is headed for a year-to-date decline of over 12%.
Optimism that the latest surge of the pandemic, led by the omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, won’t disrupt the economy has helped to push stock markets higher in the recent session, capping the upswing in assets considered havens.
March copper
HGH22,
was trading 5 cents, or 1.2%, higher at $4.446, after a 2.3% weekly advance.
January platinum
PLF22,
was shedding $9.10, or 0.9%, to reach $966 an ounce, following a 4.3% weekly gain put in on Thursday; meanwhile, palladium for March delivery
PAH22,
was gaining $12.10, or 0.6%, to $1,969 an ounce on Comex, after the contract booked a 10% weekly advance last week.
