By Echo Ma / January 11, 2018 / www.metalbulletin.com /
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The spot gold price rose during Asian morning trading on Thursday January 11 after the dollar continued to drift lower following news that Chinese officials have recommended the country slow or halt its purchases of US bonds.
The spot gold price was quoted at $1,319.05-1,319.35 per oz as of 11.39am Shanghai time, up by $2.05 from the previous session's close. Trade has ranged from $1,317.05-1,320.78 so far today.
The yellow metal benefited from a softer dollar during early trade on Thursday.The dollar index was down by 0.06% at 92.28 as of 11:10am Shanghai time - this compares with its recent high of 92.64 reached on Tuesday.A review of China's foreign exchange reserve holdings recommended slowing or halting purchases of US Treasuries, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday. "This initially steepened the US yield curve and kept the dollar on the defensive," ANZ Research noted on Thursday. Key now for the currency will be the raft of important data releases later this week - including the US consumer price index and retail sales due on Friday - which investors will be eyeing for further direction in the dollar and conversely in the price of gold.
Silver, PGMs
In the other precious metals, the spot silver price rose $0.03 to $16.995-17.035 per oz. Platinum increased $6 to $973-978 per oz and palladium gained $4 to $1,089-1,094 per oz. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for June delivery was recently at 281.20 yuan ($43.15) per gram, and the June silver was at 3,887 yuan per kg.
Currency moves and data releases
The dollar index was down by 0.06% to 92.28 as of 11.10am Shanghai time. In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price was up by 0.1% to $63.52 per barrel as of 11.10am Shanghai time. In equities, the Shanghai Composite was down by 0.3% to 3,411.46 as of 11.00am Shanghai time. In data on Wednesday, UK manufacturing production rose by 0.4% in November, surpassing an expected 0.3% increase. US import prices disappointed with a 0.1% rise compared with expected growth of 0.4%, while crude oil inventories declined by 4.9 million barrels from the prior week. The economic agenda is fairly busy today with EU industrial production, the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting accounts and a host of US data that includes producer prices, unemployment claims, IBD/TIPP economic optimism and the federal budget balance.In addition, US Federal Open Market Committee member William Dudley is speaking.