Gold dips as Mnuchin stems Fed's pandemic lending program

Friday,   20-Nov-2020   09:29 AM (IST)

Gold prices fell on Friday, weighed by uncertainty over more U.S. stimulus measures after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said key pandemic lending programs at the Federal Reserve would expire by the end of the year. Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,863.21 per ounce by 0110 GMT and was headed for the second week of declines. U.S. gold futures were flat at $1,862.60. In a letter to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Mnuchin said the $455 billion allocated to Treasury under the CARES Act last spring, which supports Fed's lending to businesses, nonprofits and local governments, should be instead available for Congress to reallocate. U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had agreed to resume COVID-19 relief talks as cases surge across the country, CNBC reported. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose last week, likely as new business restrictions to control the pandemic unleashed a fresh wave of layoffs, which could further slow the labor market recovery. The flow of gold from east to west triggered by the pandemic eased in October as Switzerland's imports of bullion from Asia fell and it exported more to India than in any month since May 2019, Swiss customs data showed on Thursday. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust fell 0.14% to 1,217.25 tonnes on Thursday. Silver fell 0.1% to $24.06 per ounce. Platinum was down 0.2% to $949.88 per ounce, while palladium eased 0.1% to $2,322.00.