Q3 Earnings Alert! Plan early for this week’s stock reports with all key data in 1 placeSee list

Gold Rises 2% on Week; First Weekly Win in Five

Published 05/20/2022, 02:32 PM
Updated 05/20/2022, 03:07 PM
© Reuters.
DX
-
GC
-

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com -- Gold prices rose 2% on the week to give longs in the game their first weekly win in five.

While they may have secured a break from their gloom which began in mid-April, bulls in bullion still appeared to be on a knife's edge given the dollar’s potential to reprise 20-year highs, analysts cautioned.

Typical with its contrasting fashion to gold, the Dollar Index, which pits the greenback against six other major currencies, posted its first weekly decline in six. At Friday’s level of 103.23, the index wasn’t too far from the week-ago peak of 105.06, which marked a high since 2000.

Another bugbear for gold longs: bond yields.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note has moved down to 2.79% from May peaks of 3.2% on expectations that forthcoming U.S. rates by the Federal Reserve in June and July will be capped at a half-percentage point each round, instead of the initially-speculated three-quarter point. Yet, with rate expectations often moving on a dime, yields could jump too.

“The second half of the week has been kind to gold as the trepidation in financial markets has shifted slightly from the pace of monetary tightening to recession risks,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at online trading platform OANDA. “So rather than higher yields and a stronger dollar weighing on the yellow metal, we've seen investors pouring into safe havens which have lowered yields slightly and lifted gold.”

Front-month gold futures for June on Comex settled at $1,842.10 per ounce, up just 90 cents, or less than 0.1%, on the day. Week-to-date though, June gold was up almost $34 or 1.9%.

It was a tumultuous week for futures of the yellow metal which plunged on Monday to $1,785, its lowest level since the Jan. 28 bottom of $1,779.70.

Erlam said it was tough to make a call on whether gold could extend its current rebound based on expectations that upcoming Fed hikes had been baked into the cake.

“Whether that will be sustained in this hiking environment will be interesting and ultimately depend on just how real and significant the economic fears are,” he said. “At the end of the day, rate hikes should lower demand but so should a recession. If the latter continues to be viewed as a likely outcome of the former, gold could see its fortunes improve further.”

Sunil Kumar Dixit, chief technical strategist at skcharting.com, concurred with that view.

"Gold bulls should target the $1867 and $1892 levels next, which would be a validation for the 61.8% Fibonacci fibonacci level of $1,917," said Dixit. "But they should also beware that weakness below the $1,836-$1,825 support can negate the rebound and trigger downward pressure to $1,800-$1,780. The reaction to $1,850, when it comes, will be critically important."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.