Gold prices made further gains on Monday and Tuesday to rise above $2,030 an ounce for the first time since February 9.
The US dollar fell against other major currencies on Tuesday, adding further to a downward move that’s continued since February 14. A weaker dollar tends to drive dollar-denominated assets like gold and silver higher as it makes the precious metals cheaper for buyers in other currencies. US Treasury yields also fell on Tuesday, adding to the bullish picture for gold prices.
The latest moves came against a background of heightened geopolitical risk, after news reports on Sunday said Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen had attacked another ship in the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis have said their attacks are a response to the Israeli state’s military actions in Gaza.
The ongoing hostilities against ships are a concern for the markets as they threaten deliveries in a key commercial waterway, and the uncertainty they pose tends to drive investment away from riskier assets toward safe havens like gold.
The markets were also looking ahead to Wednesday’s US Fed FOMC minutes and expected comments from Fed officials to gain insight into the timing of any interest rate cuts in the coming months. Recent figures suggest the market is now split on whether the first cuts are likely to come in May, June or July, while in January, most bets were on a May cut.
A prolonged period of very low interest rates, coupled with massive quantitative easing by central banks, was a key factor in gold’s dramatic price increase since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. The rate-hiking cycle seen over the last two years has contributed to halting the price increase for gold, and any eventual cutting of interest rates could once again provide a stimulus for precious metals prices.
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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