By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Gold settled above $1,800 for the second time in a week on Tuesday as a wave of new coronavirus infections in the United States and the world pushed more investors to seek protection with the safe haven, amid a slide in global equity markets.
“Gold seems poised to make a run for the $1,850 level as economic uncertainty is here to stay, as too many virus hotspots are re-emerging globally,” said Ed Moya, senior markets strategist at OANDA in New York.
“The stimulus trade component for gold also got some positive developments after the White House told Congress the next stimulus package needs to be done by the first week in August,” Moya said, referring to the new round of financial aid for ordinary Americans that Wall Street hopes will boost consumer spending.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery on Comex settled up $16.40, or 0.9%, at $1,809.90. It marked the second settlement above $1,800 for Comex’s benchmark gold futures contract, after it broke above that level on June 30, for the first time in nearly nine years.
Spot gold was up $12.80, or 0.7%, at $1,796.99 by 3:58 PM ET (19:58 GMT). The real-time indicator of bullion prices scaled $1,789.48 last week, a peak since the record high of $1,920.85 achieved by bullion since its September 2011.
Stock prices fell across the world on Tuesday, with Wall Street’s Dow closing down 1.5%, as investors reacted grimly to the rising global toll of Covid-19, led by news that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who had downplayed the virus for months, had tested positive now.
The United States itself has been reporting some 40,000 new cases of coronavirus daily and the country’s top pandemics expert Anthony Fauci said recently this could grow to 100,000 daily without proper social-distancing and other safety measures.
Data shows that some 3 million Americans have been infected by the virus so far, with a death toll exceeding 133,000. A new model by the University of Washington also predicts 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Oct. 1, casting further doubts on economic reopening from lockdowns.