Global equities weakened for their seventh consecutive session over possibilities of a prolonged U.S. government shutdown and deteriorating global fundamentals.
Gold for Christmas
“Gold prices are moderately higher on safe-haven buying interest heading into the Christmas holiday,” Kitco Metals senior analyst Jim Wyckoff said in a note.
“A lower U.S. dollar index today is also working in favor of the precious metals market bulls. There is marketplace unease over the U.S. government’s partial shutdown that could last a while,” Wyckoff added.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the USD against a basket of major international currencies, was 0.5% lower to 96.52 Monday. The greenback was under pressure on heightened concerns that the Federal Reserve would continue hiking rates into a weakening economy.
“If the Fed is going to continue its aggressive stance, then our economy will slow down and a recession is a possibility. There is just so much negative news, that I cannot see gold do anything but go up,” Walter Pehowich, executive vice president of investment services at Dillon Gage Metals, told Reuters.
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