Gold rose on Friday as U.S. President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a massive stimulus plan, while U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s commitment to keep monetary policy dovish further boosted the metal’s appeal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot
gold rose 0.2% to $1,850.36 per ounce by 0042 GMT, while U.S.
gold futures were flat at $1,852.20.
* Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal on Thursday designed to jump-start the economy and speed up the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic.
* With the U.S. economy still far from its inflation and employment goals it is too early for the Federal Reserve to discuss changing its monthly bond purchases, Powell said on Thursday.
* The number of Americans filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits surged last week, confirming a weakening in labor market conditions with a worsening COVID-19 pandemic.
* Global coronavirus cases rose to more than 92.22 million.
* America will be in uncharted territory when the U.S. Senate meets as soon as next week for the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, after the House of Representatives impeached Trump on Wednesday on charges of incitement one week after his supporters rampaged in the Capitol.
* SPDR
Gold Trust , the world’s largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.9% to 1,161.00 tonnes on Thursday from 1,171.21 tonnes on Wednesday.
* Silver rose 0.5% to $25.65 an ounce. Platinum eased 0.2% to $1,116.52, while palladium shed 0.1% to $2,406.99.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0700 UK GDP Estimate 3M/3M Nov 0700 UK GDP Estimate MM, YY Nov 0700 UK Manufacturing Output MM Nov 0745 France CPI (EU Norm) Final MM, YY Dec 1100 EU Reserve Assets Total Dec 1330 US Retail Sales MM Dec 1415 US Industrial Production MM Dec 1500 US U Mich Sentiment Prelim Jan
