Gold Down, but COVID-19 Concerns Stem Losses

© Reuters.

By Gina Lee

AiVIF.com – Gold was down on Tuesday morning in Asia. However, the yellow metal stayed near an over one-week peak as ever-rising numbers of COVID-19 cases globally and recent disappointing Chinese economic data boosted safe-haven assets.

Gold futures inched down 0.11% to $1,787.90 by 12:18 AM ET (4:18 AM GMT), after hitting its highest level since Aug. 6 on Monday. The dollar, which usually moves inversely to gold, inched up on Tuesday.

Investors now await the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, due to be released later in the day, for clues on when the central bank will begin asset tapering.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said on Monday that a strong jobs report in August could satisfy the central bank’s conditions to begin asset tapering. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will also speak at a town hall for educators later in the day.

In Asia Pacific, the Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes from its latest meeting earlier in the day. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Bank Indonesia will hand down their respective policy decisions on Wednesday and Thursday.

Investors also continue to digest economic data released by China on Monday, which said industrial production and retail sales grew slower than expected in July. The country’s latest COVID-19 outbreak and freak weather put a dent in the recovery of the world’s second-largest economy.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China also postponed transactions of precious metals for some accounts, citing the heightened volatility in both global and domestic precious metal prices.

The increasing unrest in Afghanistan as the Taliban re-entered Kabul was also on investors’ radars.

In other precious metals, silver rose 0.3% and platinum inched up 0.1%, while palladium was flat at $2,605.92.