On Thursday, Gold futures for June ended up $16.60, or 1.0%, at $1,758.20. This is the biggest daily gain that gold has posted since the beginning of the month. In addition, the asset managed to reach the highest closing level for the most actively traded contracts since late February.
Commodity experts believe that yesterday's statement by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell provided significant support to gold prices. He announced that only strong economic growth in the country would force the central bank to consider policy tightening. Besides, Powell commented on an anticipated rise in inflation this year, noting that it would be temporary.
Apart from that, such growth in gold prices was contributed by a decline in US Treasury bond yields. The indicator has fallen over several trading sessions, which provided fertile ground for a potential gold increase. Since the beginning of the week, the precious metal has advanced by 1.5%, a level not seen in the gold market since mid-January.
According to Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research, if the yield on US Treasury bonds continues to decline, and the US currency keeps standing still, the price of gold will most likely skyrocket. The analyst believes that in such a case, gold may well climb above the key $1,800-per-ounce mark.
Meanwhile, statistics on US Treasury bond yields are not in favor of the asset. At the time of preparing this material, the yield on 10-year securities increased by 0.007% from the previous session to settle at 1.639%. Nick Cowley, an analyst at DailyFX, attributes the current rise in yields to investors' assessments of the effects of the US fiscal stimulus measures.
As a result, the precious metal opened Friday's session with slight losses. At the time of preparing this material, gold was trading at $1,750.55. Thus, the asset slipped by $7.75, or 0.44%, compared to the previous trading session. Silver futures for May also lost in value. Its price fell by 0.95%, or about $25.
Head of Research at World Gold Council Juan Carlos Artigas assumes that in the second quarter, the dynamics of gold may repeat the scenario of the first quarter. Notably, the beginning of the year was the worst period for the asset in four years, when an increase in interest rates affected gold investments. At the same time, the expert does not exclude a more optimistic scenario. In his opinion, higher inflationary expectations can support the quotes in the short term.
