Gold prices clawed back some of the previous day’s losses on Thursday, on the back of heightened geopolitical risks.
Prices edged up to $2,020 an ounce in late trades on Thursday, compared with a low of $2,002 an ounce on Wednesday.
The modest gains came amid simmering geopolitical tensions which boosted flows into safe-haven assets.
Pakistan launched missile strikes into Iran in retaliation for an Iranian drone and missile attack on Pakistan’s territory on January 16th, according to news reports on Thursday. The latest tensions come in the context of an ongoing war between the Israeli state and Hamas in Gaza and recent hostilities between Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen and US and UK forces.
These tensions increase the safe-haven appeal of gold, as investors divert capital away from risky assets. Gold’s slight gains came despite figures released Thursday showing a larger-than-expected fall in weekly US jobless claims in the week to January 18. The figures provided a more positive view on the US economy, challenging suggestions that the US Fed will soon start cutting interest rates.
Looking ahead, Friday is relatively light on macroeconomic data releases, although the markets will be watching out for the monthly US Michigan Consumer Sentiment figures for the latest take on the health of the US economy.
Frank’s experience covering the commodities markets spans 22 years, with a particular specialism in metals, carbon and energy markets. He has worked as a senior editor for S&P Global Commodity Insights (formerly Platts) and before this, at ICIS-LOR, a part of Reed Business Information (Reed Elsevier), where he covered the petrochemicals markets from 2003 to 2005.
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