Gold prices jump today as investors seek safe-haven assets amid heightened US-China tensions

The gold prices on the MCX inched higher as overnight COMEX gold appreciated due to worsening economic data from the US and trade relations with China

Gold prices gain today amid escalation in US-China tensions over Hong Kong security bill and rising coronavirus cases which forced investors to rush for safe-haven assets. On MCX, gold June futures were trading Rs 152 or 0.33 per cent higher at Rs 46,557 per 10 grams. While silver July futures edged Rs 67 or 0.14 per cent higher to trade at Rs 48,625 per kg. Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, India reported a spike of 7,466 new coronavirus cases and 175 deaths. The total number of COVID-29 cases in the country stands at 1,65,799. “US Dollar moved lower but failed to generate enough tailwinds for gold as US yields edged higher. Riskier assets like equity also rallied which also capped upward movement in gold,” said Bhavik Patel, Senior Technical Research Analyst, Tradebulls Securities. “Bears have become exhausted as they failed to drag prices below $1705 so we expect prices to drift sideways to higher in the near term,” he added.

Globally, gold prices rose on Friday as the Sino-US rift deepened over further moves by Beijing to impose a security law on Hong Kong, lifting the allure of safe havens amid market uncertainties caused by the pandemic, according to Reuters. Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $1,719.63 per ounce. US gold futures rose 0.4 per cent to $1,734.60. Palladium was flat at $1,930.67 per ounce. Among other precious metals, platinum declined 0.9 per cent to $830.81, and silver fell 0.3 per cent to $17.38.

The gold prices on the MCX inched higher as overnight COMEX gold appreciated due to worsening economic data from the US and trade relations with China, says Jigar Trivedi, Fundamental Research Analysts, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. “The safe-haven buying into the ETFs has continued to go up. Hence, the sentiment is likely to be positive on the yellow metal,” Trivedi added.

On the domestic equity front, headline indices were trading subdued. BSE Sensex was trading 145 points or 0.45 per cent lower at 32,054, while the broader Nifty 50 index was ruling at 9,470, down 20 points or 0.21 per cent.