Gold retreats below $1,680, still up more than $30 on Monday
- 10-year US Treasury bond yield is down more than 5% on Monday.
- Gold continues to gain value on safe-haven demand.
- Markets' focus stays on headlines surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.
The troy ounce of the precious metal gained nearly $50 last week and surged higher at the beginning of the Asian session on Monday. After touching its highest level in more than seven years at $1,689, the XAU/USD pair erased a portion of its earlier gains and was last seen trading at $1,674, where it still up 1.85%, or $31, on a daily basis.
The risk-averse market environment allows gold to continue to find demand as a safe-haven. Heightened worries over the coronavirus outbreak having a protracted negative impact on the global economy force investors to seek refuge. As of Monday morning, the total number of confirmed cases in China stood at 77,150 with 2,592 fatalities.
Confirming the dismal market mood, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield, which has inverted with the 3-month T-bond yield, is erasing more than 5% on the day. Additionally, major equity indexes in Europe are down between 3.3% and 3.7%.
Attention shifts to US data and WHO
Meanwhile, the greenback is staying relatively strong against its major rivals, possibly limiting the pair's upside for the time being. At the moment, the US Dollar Index is up 0.25% on the day at 98.59.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Manufacturing Survey will be featured in the US Economic docket. More importantly, markets will be paying close attention to the daily briefing of the World Health Organization (WHO) later in the session.
Technical levels to watch for
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
