By Bryan Wong
Investing.com- Gold was up on Thursday morning in Asia, continuing to rise after topping the $2,000 per ounce level earlier in the week and powered by ongoing weakness in the dollar as well as geopolitical concerns.
Gold futures rose 0.14% to $2,040 by 10:16 PM ET (3:16 AM GMT).
Supporting gold was another fall in the dollar.
“We’re seeing an ongoing deterioration in the U.S. dollar, U.S. yield curve dropping further and an increase in inflation expectations. This implies that for the foreseeable future, the opportunity cost of holding gold is going to get less and less,” Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities, told CNBC.
Economic and political uncertainty have also been supportive of gold.
In the U.S. negotiations continue towards a new COVID-19 stimulus package. Congressional leaders and White House negotiators discussed a compromise framework on Wednesday for another round of aid that could include an additional $400-per-week unemployment payment. President Donald Trump said that if no significant progress is made by Friday, he is prepared to take executive action.
Meanwhile, Sino-U.S. relations continued to deteriorate, coaxing investors towards the safe-haven metal. Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the U.S., said on Wednesday that the countries’ relations are under “unprecedented strain” and that a U.S. move to send ships to the South China Sea “raises the risk of a conflict”.