Gold firms near 6-yr peak on risk-off sentiment

Tuesday,   13-Aug-2019   08:56 AM (IST)

Gold prices gained on Tuesday, hovering near a more than six-year high hit the previous day, as concerns around protests in Hong Kong, a slump in Argentina’s markets and the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war dented risk appetite. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,515.21 per ounce as of 0116 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,525.10 an ounce. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.26% while Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 1.28%. On Monday, Wall Street stocks also fell sharply, with the S&P 500 losing 1.23%. Protesters managed to shut down Hong Kong’s airport, the world’s busiest cargo airport, on Monday. Investors are focused on the Federal Reserve’s annual  symposium next week. Traders see a 74% chance of a 25 basis-point rate cut by the Fed this September. In Monday afternoon trading, U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields fell to 1.64% from 1.734% late on Friday. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.1%. SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.94% to 847.77 tonnes on Monday from 839.85 tonnes on Friday. Fears of a possible return to interventionist policies, gripped the Argentine market after market-friendly President Mauricio Macri lost by a much wider-than-expected margin in presidential primaries.