Gold Steadies as Investors Weigh Slowing Virus Spread, Vaccines

(Bloomberg) -- Gold steadied as investors weighed the slowing pace of coronavirus infections, as well as immunization programs globally and the impact on growth. Platinum surged to a fresh-six-year high.

The pace of the outbreak in the U.S. continued to ease as the week-to-week average hit the lowest in almost four months, while infection and death rates have dropped in India. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed a milestone as the U.K. recorded 15 million vaccinations. U.S. markets are shut for Presidents’ Day, while exchanges in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are also closed Monday.

The precious metal has retreated about 4% this year amid higher Treasury yields, which diminish the appeal of bullion because it pays no interest. Still, some support for the haven is seen on bets that more stimulus will be inflationary, and that a recovery from the pandemic will weigh on the dollar.

Gold “will likely find some support from a weaker dollar in 2021,” said Vivek Dhar, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “We expect the precious metal to largely remain range-bound between $1,800 and $1,900 in coming months as rising U.S. 10‑year bond yields are offset by rising U.S. 10-year inflation expectations and a weaker U.S. dollar.”

Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,823.25 an ounce by 8:57 a.m. in Singapore, after climbing 0.6% last week. Silver and palladium advanced. Platinum rose as much as 1.4% to $1,274.02 an ounce, the highest level since 2015. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat.

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