On Thursday, the US currency index, reflecting its attitude to competitors, jumped by 0.1% after soaring to a 3-year high earlier. Despite this deterrent factor, gold prices continued the upward trend that began the day before.
The last day of June was quite favorable for the yellow asset, unlike the entire month, which turned out to be the worst since April 2013. On Wednesday, the quotes rose by 0.5%.
Yesterday's increase in gold was 0.3%, or $5.20. At the close of the New York Comex Exchange, the main precious metal was trading at $1,776.80.
The main springboard for quotes in recent days is the tense epidemiological situation in the world. The increase in the incidence of coronavirus in a number of countries, as well as the active spread of the new delta strain, cause investors' concern.
The tightening of quarantine measures may again lead to a decline in economic activity, which in turn will favorably affect the pricing of gold as a safe haven asset.
According to the senior analyst at Kitco.com, Jim Wyckoff, the growth of the yellow asset on Thursday was also due to the closing of short positions on the futures markets and mass purchases.
His colleague Fawad Razaqzada from ThinkMarkets believes that gold is now significantly undervalued. He supports his opinion with the fact that other major assets manage to partially maintain their positions achieved against the background of incentive measures.
In contrast to them, the main precious metal in June could not withstand the pressure caused by rumors about an earlier than expected curtailment of the Fed's soft monetary policy and a possible increase in interest rates.
Earlier, the expert's forecasts for gold for the third quarter were optimistic. He expected that the prices of the yellow asset would pick up an upward trend. Now, when the yield of US bonds has confidently fixed at 1.50%, his position has changed.
Razaqzada notes that the positive mood of gold can easily be suppressed by both an increase in profitability and the imminent curtailment of stimulus measures.
Meanwhile, on Friday morning, the price of the precious metal continues to grow. However, the quotes show insignificant dynamics against the background of the lack of significant news.
At the time of preparation of the material, gold was trading at $1,778. 3. The difference from Thursday's close was $1.95, or 0.09%.
The price of silver also changed slightly upward. Compared to yesterday's final value, the asset increased by 0.07%. In the morning, its price came to $26,183.
The picture of today's precious metals market depends on the release of statistics from the American labor market. According to experts, the data should be positive.
It is expected that in the first summer month, unemployment decreased by 0.1% and amounted to 5.7%. Analysts also predict an increase in the number of jobs in non-agricultural sectors of the US economy. According to preliminary estimates, their number increased by 700 thousand after an increase of 559 thousand in May.
