Gold rebounds as slow recovery fears resurface after US Fed minutes

[BENGALURU] Gold prices rose on Thursday following a sharp fall in the previous session as the US Federal Reserve's cautious view on a recovery from the coronavirus-induced economic slump drove investors away from riskier assets.

Spot gold was up 0.6 per cent at US$1,941.24 per ounce by 7am GMT, after declining more than 3.5 per cent to a near one-week low on Wednesday.

US gold futures fell 1.1 per cent to US$1,948.10.

"Gold is stable after it got hammered overnight. The main fundamentals behind gold have not changed," said Edward Meir, an analyst at ED&F Man Capital Markets.

"Stimulus is still coming in and it's very pre-mature to say we're recovering globally and should see higher rates and stronger dollar; we are many months away from that."

The Fed on Wednesday warned the economic downturn triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic faces a highly uncertain path and reiterated the need for additional fiscal stimulus.

The dovish remarks from the Fed on the US economy triggered a retreat in US stocks and across Asian markets.

Central banks, including the Fed, have rolled out massive stimulus measures and cut interest rates near zero to combat the economic toll from the virus outbreak, helping gold rise more than 28 per cent so far this year as it is considered a hedge against inflation and currency debasement.

Keeping a check on gold's advance, the dollar index rebounded and US Treasury yields rose after the Fed minutes showed policymakers expressed little support to implement yield curve control to keep cost of borrowing low.

"Gold remains sensitive to movements in the US dollar and US monetary policy expectations. The market proved quite disappointed by last night's Federal Open Market Committee minutes," said IG Markets analyst Kyle Rodda.

Elsewhere, silver rose 1.1 per cent to US$27 per ounce, platinum climbed 0.3 per cent to US$934.89 and palladium gained 0.7 per cent to US$2,171.77.

REUTERS