Gold rises as equities slip further, but faces monthly decline
Gold and silver rose on Friday as an ongoing retail versus hedge fund faceoff and doubts over European vaccine supply hurt global stocks, but a resilient dollar took away some of bullion’s allure and kept it on track for its worst January in a decade.
Spot gold rose 0.6% to $1,851.01 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.5% to $1,850.30.
A Wall Street retail frenzy this week weighed on equities, with a row in Europe over COVID-19 vaccine supply also hitting risk appetite.
“We’re seeing some volatility in the equity market … and vaccine rollouts are slower than expected. So gold is holding quite well at these levels,” said Bank of China International analyst Xiao Fu.
But gold was down 2.5% so far this month, which would be its worst January since 2011, weighed down by a firm dollar amid an uptick in U.S. Treasury yields.
Silver jumped 2.5% at $27.04 an ounce, extending gains from an as much as 7% spike on Thursday after some traders moved to cover short positions on rumors about a GameStop-style squeeze driven by retail investors.
The retail frenzy around silver can repeat again, “because the market is small and doesn’t need much money,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.
But “such an investment-driven rally lasts as long as people put money into the market. As soon as the flow of money fades, there’s nothing more that feeds this rally and prices come crashing down.”
Platinum rose 0.4% to $1,074.67, while palladium fell 4.6% to $2,227.25.
