- US Dollar Index gains traction at start of 2020.
- Gold continues to find demand despite upbeat market mood.
- Coming up: Markit Manufacturing PMI and weekly Jobless Claims data from US.
The troy ounce of the precious metal gained $50 in December and closed the year at $1517. By adding more than $200 in 2019, the pair registered its largest annual gain since 2010. After starting 2020 moving sideways near $1520, the pair gained traction in the last hour and was last seen adding 0.35% on a daily basis at $1522.20.
Gold ignores upbeat mood
Although the market sentiment seems to have turned positive on Thursday with stock markets rising sharply following the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) decision to cut the Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) by 50 basis points to stimulate the economy, safe-haven gold continues to find demand after ending the year above the critical $1500 handle.
In the meantime, the broad-based selling pressure surrounding the USD, which allowed the pair to gain traction after the Christmas break, started to fade away on Thursday to cap the pair's upside for the time being. The US Dollar Index is up 0.25% on the day at 96.70.
Later in the day, the IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI and the weekly Jobless Claims will be featured in the US economic docket. Investors will be keeping an eye on Wall Street's performance as well. If major equity indexes in the US advance to fresh all-time highs on the first trading day of 2020, investors could move further away from safe-haven assets and cause the pair to reverse its direction.
Technical levels to watch for
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.
If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet.
FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted.
The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.
Recommended content
Editors’ Picks
AUD/USD remains under pressure above 0.6400
AUD/USD managed to regain some composure and rebounded markedly from Tuesday’s YTD lows in the sub-0.6400 region ahead of the release of the Australian labour market report on Thursday.
EUR/USD faces decent contention around 1.0600
The knee-jerk in the Greenback reignited some buying interest in the risk complex and pushed EUR/USD to three-day highs near 1.0680, rapidly leaving behind the recent yearly low around 1.0600.
Gold eases despite risk-off mood
Gold trades in a relatively tight range near $2,390 in the second half of the day on Wednesday. In the absence of high-tier data releases, investors keep a close eye on headlines surrounding the Iran-Israel conflict.
Ethereum trades around the $3,000 support following a surge in validator queue
Ethereum (ETH) continued a sideways movement on Wednesday as investors seemed to be waiting for an upward or downward price catalyst. Despite the price stagnancy, the ETH validator queue - possibly fueled by the DeFi restaking boom - rose sharply.
Markets stabilize after Powell rules out rate hike, but the signs don’t look good
Markets are volatile right now; however, a relative calm has descended on the market and US. US stocks are down a touch, but the Vix is lower, US Treasury yields are lower, and the dollar is mostly lower vs. its G10 FX counterparts.