Gold Rises to Six-Week High on Signs of Demand as Platinum Jumps
Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.5 percent to $1,260.07 an ounce, the highest price since Dec. 11, and was at $1,257.81 at 9:11 a.m. in Singapore. Gold posted a fourth weekly climb on Jan. 17 in the longest rally since September as U.S. economic reports showed an uneven recovery. Platinum advanced as much as 0.5 percent to $1,461.75 an ounce, the highest level since Nov. 7, also extending four weeks of gains.
Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust rose 0.9 percent on Jan. 17, the biggest one-day increase since November 2011. In China, which probably overtook India as the largest user last year, volumes for the benchmark contract on the Shanghai Gold Exchange climbed a second day on Jan. 17. Gold has rebounded from a six-month low of $1,182.27 on Dec. 31, when it capped the biggest annual drop since 1981, on signs of stronger physical demand.
“Pre-Spring Festival demand in China is good and investors buying into ETFs aids sentiment,” said Wang Xiaoli, chief investment strategist at CITICS Futures Co., a unit of China’s biggest listed brokerage. “Mixed data in the U.S. is positive for gold. However, the overwhelming view still seems to be for a steady reduction in stimulus.”
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said policy makers “need to do more” to stimulate the economy. Reports last week showed that while retail sales, New York manufacturing and initial jobless claims all beat economists’ estimate, housing starts declined, industrial production slowed and consumer confidence unexpectedly dropped. The central bank next meets Jan. 28-29.