The gold price edged lower in lacklustre trading, weighed by a stronger greenback overnight as the European Central Bank announced the implementation of its asset-buying program to start on Monday.
The ECB president Mario Draghi on Thursday detailed a new massive 60-billion-euros-per-month stimulus package that will start on March 9. The new details were that the ECB will purchase debt with negative yields, so long as those yields are not below the ECB deposit rate that is currently at -0.2 percent.
The US dollar rose to a new 11-year high against the euro at 1.0987 on Thursday; it was last at 1.1025.
Spot gold was last at $1,198.80, alightly more than a dollar lower than where it ended on Thursday. Silver fell as well, slipping seven cents to $16.15 per ounce.
“Despite gold’s early gains, prices were rather choppy as it later fell with a stronger USD and hovered around the psychological $1,200 per ounce level. We see bullion as likely to remain stuck bobbing around that level in the near term,” said a note from HSBC Securities.
The next focus for gold will be the February nonfarm payrolls. Markets are expecting an increase of 240,000 jobs and a stronger than expected jobs number will likely hold negative implications for gold.
GoldMoney dealing manager Kelly-Ann Kearsey said,” What we’ve seen over the last seven days is effectively a static position for gold, whih has pushed investors to look at other opportunities – Palladium has been our best performer in terms of price, week-on-week.”
Palladium has rallied to a five-and-half months high earlier this week at $833 per ounce. Current prices are hovering at $825, just $3 lower than where it ended on Thursday. Platinum was mostly unchanged at $1,179 per ounce.
The post Gold falls below $1,200, stronger greenback weighs appeared first on The Bullion Desk.
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