Gold exchange traded funds recovered some of their recent losses Monday on speculation the Federal Reserve is more likely to announce additional economic stimulus following last week’s lackluster employment report for March.
“The door to further quantitative easing remains ajar and may shift the decision point to the June FOMC (meeting) as the Fed continues to monitor the incoming data,” said Barclays Capital analysts in a Reuters report Monday.
The end of a jewelers strike in India and hot inflation data in China also lifted the precious metal ETFs.
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) was down nearly 2% over the past week heading into Monday’s action. The $67.4 billion fund rose 1% in afternoon trading but remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
“We’re seeing calmer minds prevailing,” said Matt Zeman, head of trading at Kingsview Financial, in a Dow Jones Newswires report. “The sell-off was probably overdone, and the outlook for gold in terms of interest rates remains kind of bullish for the foreseeable future.”