Gold on Hold After China Announced Stimulus

Gold futures were little changed after reaching the highest in almost two weeks after a surprise cut in interest rates in China, the world’s second-largest consumer.

The People’s Bank of China lowered the benchmark lending and deposit rates by a quarter percentage point on Saturday. Gold imports by India, the top consumer, may jump to 100 metric tons in March from about 25 tons in February, according to Rajesh Mehta, chairman of Rajesh Exports Ltd.

“China’s action is keeping gold supported,” Tai Wong, the director of commodity products trading at BMO Capital Markets Corp. in New York, said in a telephone interview. “Also, reports about higher imports by India are positive.”

Gold futures for April delivery rose less than 0.1 percent to $1,213.60 an ounce at 9:45 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the metal reached $1,223, the highest for a most-active contract since Feb. 17.
The “surprise” cut in Chinese rates “is expected to lift demand for physical gold,” Kitco Metals Inc. in Montreal said in a report.

via Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza