Gold prices kept buoyant by US fiscal stimulus bets and a weak dollar

GOLD prices are set to wind down the year on an optimistic note. Gold was buoyant throughout the week, building on gains from expectations that the US$900 billion pandemic package and the US$1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill would be rolled out to Americans at last.

Precious metals prices jumped at the opening of trading for the week before finding support at US$1,860 an ounce, after the US President Donald Trump threatened to veto the relief package, setting off a flurry of activity in Washington as a government shutdown also loomed without the Bills. Fortunately, the President eventually signed off on the package.

The US dollar was mostly weaker against its major peers after Britain clinched a trade deal with the European Union, driving up demand for dollar-denominated gold. Uncertainty as to what would happen next in the US stimulus saga had investors staying away from the dollar, which is currently traded at lows last seen in April 2018. The dollar had tumbled further following US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision to delay a vote on increasing Covid-19 relief checks from US$600 to US$2,000.