Gold is surging higher again today after rallies in stocks and oil appear to be losing steam this morning. The rush for safe-haven assets was restored as the yen, Franc and the yellow metal topped the buying lists for investors.
Click Here For More Market Exclusive Updates & Analysis
Gold Futures for April delivery traded up by 0.72% to $1,218.70. Spot gold rose 0.79% to 1217.90 an ounce during European market hours. The metal had shed as much as 1.6% a day earlier to $1,201.63 as market sentiment swayed towards equities. According to HSBC analyst James Steel, gold prices could remain under pressure over the short-term.
Of late, India and China, both of whom are big consumers of gold, have shown diminished demand for it. This could indicate that gold demand might remain muted during the next few days. However, robust demand in bullion exchange-traded funds, as well as weakness in the dollar might act as a catalyst to spur gold prices nonetheless.
Along with the gold rally, gold ETF’s are bulking up on assets. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) rose 2.64% to 752.29 tonnes yesterday, the highest levels since March 2015. The exchange-traded fund traded up nearly 1% to $116.57 during afterhours.
Eldorado and Harmony’s Problems Worsen
Apart from this, it has been reported that Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY) and Acacia Mining Plc have given consent over locking their profit margins at selected African mining operations. The move is in response to hedging strategies that have dragged on the industry from the last bull run.
Meanwhile, Eldorado Gold Corp (NYSE:EGO) has deepening troubles with the Greek government as the country’s energy Minister, Panos Skourletis, has charged the company’s CEO Paul Wright of shoring up his own shares. The comments highlight the differences between the Canadian company and Greece as the two have failed to reach an agreement over setting up mines in Greece. Earlier in January, Wright had said in a press note that the company is planning to suspend its investments in Greece due to non-cooperation by the government.
It seems that harassing companies who want to invest in Greece is the last thing that the Greek government needs to do right now, as it is still bankrupt and living off the taxpayer money of its European partners.
