London: Gold headed for back-to-back gains following wild swings as investors weighed the outlook for the metal's record-setting rally - by tracking moves in bond yields, a weaker dollar, as well as an uptick in risk appetite.
Spot bullion climbed, while futures were little changed. This comes after prices tumbled on Tuesday, then swung in a wide arc on Wednesday, as last-week's rally likely spurred some technical selling and profit-taking. Meanwhile, most Asian stocks advanced Thursday and were on course to erase this year's declines as the global equity rally that's driven shares higher since March continued to strengthen.
Spot gold traded 1 per cent higher at $1,935.45 an ounce at 11:54am in Singapore. On Tuesday, prices dropped 5.7 per cent, the biggest one-day loss in seven years, following a rally to an all-time high of $2,075.47 last week. Futures for December delivery declined 0.2 per cent to $1,945.30 on the Comex in New York.
Gold and silver have resumed their uptrend after the correction and remain among the best performing commodities this year, aided by negative real yields and vast stimulus to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has described gold as the currency of last resort amid an inflation threat to the dollar, and forecast further gains above $2,000 an ounce.
Still the contender
"Gold's roller-coaster ride is far from over as bond yields will likely remain volatile for the rest of the summer," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. "The relentless pace higher for gold will moderate, but the outlook still warrants a strong stretch of fresh, record highs."
Meanwhile, investors were also weighing comments by two senior Federal Reserve officials who lamented the US failure to control the coronavirus pandemic, which stood in poor comparison with efforts in other advanced countries and was undermining the nation's economic recovery.