Investing.com – On Monday (6th) Asian afternoon session, gold futures prices hovered around $1,860 as uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy persisted. Meanwhile, they retreated sharply after major copper importer China set a lower-than-expected 2023 GDP target, dampening hopes for a strong recovery in demand.
As of 14:09 Beijing time (01:09 a.m. Eastern Time), Investing.com Commodity Markets showed that it fell $1.69, or about 0.09%, to $1,854.74 per ounce; the price rose $5.85, or about 0.32%. , at $1,860.45 an ounce, close to a one-month high.
(15-minute chart of gold spot price)
Gold prices strengthened last week thanks to a weaker dollar, with futures and spot prices up more than 2% for the week, snapping a five-session losing streak. However, it stabilized on Monday, putting pressure on gold again, while also holding steady at just under 4%.
This week, the focus of the gold market turned to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony before both houses of Congress for fresh clues on the future path of interest rates.
The non-agricultural employment report released on Friday (10th) is also expected to affect the nerves of the market, especially after the strong data in January triggered a sharp drop in gold prices. If the jobs report is strong again, it could sharply intensify fears of more hawkish action from the Fed.
Rising interest rates tend to be bearish for precious metals, as higher rates push up the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets.
On the other hand, concerns over slowing economic growth have hit copper prices. Previously, China set its economic growth target for 2023 at 5%.
Analysts at ING said China’s target was lower than market expectations and that the government may recognize that external demand for Chinese exports is weakening.
However, last week’s data showed that the world‘s second largest economy surged to pre-epidemic levels and boosted copper prices, but the rally has now largely reversed.
Before the deadline, {8831|US copper futures price}} fell 0.39% to $4.0587/lb. In terms of other precious metals, it rose 0.17% to $981.30 an ounce; it rose 0.37% to $21.317 an ounce.
[This article is from Yingwei Caiqing Investing.com, to read more, please log in to cn.investing.com or download Yingwei Caiqing App]
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Compiler: Liu Chuan