Gold exchange traded funds strengthened in a delayed reaction to the government shutdown after an unexpected decline triggered by a technical sell-off around a psychological level.
The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEArca: GLD) gained 2.3% Wednesday, the iShares Gold Trust (NYSEArca: IAU) was 2.4% higher and ETF Physical Swiss Gold (NYSEArca: SGOL) increased 2.3%. Over the past month, the three ETFs declined 7.5%.
Gold futures were up 2.2% Wednesday, trading around $1,314 per ounce.
Gold weakened at the beginning of the weak and touched the $1,300 per ounce, which could have triggered additional selling pressures.
“Market players pursuing a short-term strategy who had bet on gold rising because of the budget dispute were caught on the hop and had to even out their long positions,” Commerzbank strategists said, according to a Baron’s reports. “The resulting slide to below the psychologically significant $1,300 per troy ounce mark will no doubt have triggered subsequent technical selling.”
Ira Epstein, director of the Ira Epstein division at the Linn Group, believes that gold prices are likely to oscillate in the coming days amid uncertainty over the U.S. political deadlock as investors vacillate between safe-haven and risky investments, reports Tatyana Shumsky for the Wall Street Journal.
“Gold was expected to get stronger support from the U.S. political shutdown … it is gaining some ground today (but) it is still at risk of further liquidation,” Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said in a CNBC article.