Gold prices held steady on Tuesday, as traders assessed the impact of surging Omicron coronavirus cases and interest rate hikes aimed at taming high inflation.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,790.57 per ounce by 0142 GMT. U.S. gold futures were down 0.2% at $1,790.60.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he would tighten coronavirus curbs to slow the spread of the Omicron variant if needed, after the Netherlands began a fourth lockdown and as other European nations consider Christmas restrictions.
* The
hovered below recent highs, having lost ground overnight after a blow to Democratic spending plans in Washington.
* U.S. stocks closed more than 1% lower overnight, pressured by surging Omicron coronavirus cases and a possible fatal blow to a $1.75 trillion domestic spending bill, with oil prices plunging.
* Moderna Inc said on Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against the fast-spreading Omicron in laboratory testing and that the current version of the shot would continue to be its “first line of defense against Omicron.”
* The Federal Reserve’s more hawkish turn this week came amid heightened worries about economic recovery and inflation, but it has barely changed the bond market’s view that short-term interest rates could top out below the U.S. central bank’s estimated peak.
* Commodities outperformed other assets this year as a recovery from the pandemic boosted demand though gold’s poor showing dented investor appetite.
* Spot silver was down 0.1% at $22.20 an ounce, platinum shed 0.2% to $930.72 and palladium fell 0.1% to $1,747.46.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1500 EU Consumer Confidence Flash Dec
2350 Japan Bank of Japan releases minutes of Oct. 27-28 monetary policy meeting