Gold prices slid for a third straight session on Tuesday as the dollar rebounded from over three-year lows, while investors waited for the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the outlook for US interest rates.
Fundamentals
Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $1,343.22 an ounce at 0112 GMT. US gold futures slipped 0.8 per cent to $1,345.70 per ounce.
The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.2 per cent at 89.295.
The US currency showed signs of a bounce back as some investors bought in after it fell to over three-year lows last week.
Asian stocks dipped on Tuesday, their recent recovery slowing after European equities broke a winning streak.
The minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting, held on Jan. 30-31 amid the equities tumble, are due on Wednesday. Besides the outlook on rates, investors will be keen to see what the Fed made of the market gyrations.
Euro zone finance ministers expressed broad support on Monday to allow their bailout fund ESM to become a backstop for the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) for banks, the chairman of the ministers Mario Centeno told a news conference.
German Social Democrats (SPD) start voting in a postal ballot on Tuesday on whether the centre-left party should go ahead with the agreement its leaders clinched last week to renew their power-sharing alliance with the chancellor’ Angela Merkel’s conservatives. The results are due March 4.
Asia-focused mine developer Bluebird Ventures , with venture partner Southern Gold , plans to reopen South Korean gold mines closed decades ago and is aiming for profits of around $100 per tonne, Bluebird’s CEO said.
Oil prices hovered near two-week highs, lifted by tensions in the Middle East after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel could act against Iran itself, not just its allies in the region.
South Africa’s new leadership headed by newly-elected President Cyril Ramaphosa is a ‘credit positive’ for many of the country’s top gold and platinum miners.
The value of global mining and metals deals hit a four-year high in 2017, according to accountancy firm EY, as financial distress abated and companies sold off non-core assets.
