Gold prices rose slightly on Monday in electronic trading, following their strongest weekly advance since late April as the dollar continued to push lower against the yen.
Gold for August delivery picked up $6.20, or 0.5%, to $1,392 in electronic trading. Later, the yellow metal slipped again in the negative territory.
This Monday, US markets are closed due to Memorial Day holiday. London Metal Exchange will be also closed for a bank holiday.
Prices on Friday finished with a modest decline of 0.4%. However, they managed to record a weekly win of about 1.6%, the best weekly performance since the week that ended April 26.
Gold has remained well supported in light of Wednesday’s US Federal Reserve meeting. Minutes from the Fed’s latest policy-setting meeting showed some Fed officials were willing to slow the pace of bond purchases as soon as the next meeting in June, but the final decision will depend on latest economic data..
A weaker dollar also makes gold and other dollar-denominated commodities less expensive for holders of other currencies to buy.
The dollar lost about 1.7% against the yen last week, the steepest loss since early June amid concerns about volatility in Japanese bonds and a selloff in Japan stocks driving up the Asian currency. On Monday, the dollar bought 101.06 yen, down slightly from ¥101.09 on Friday.
In addition, investors have also sought “gold as a safe-haven alternative,” as Japanese stocks have sold off and as volatility in the Japanese bond market has risen.
Separately, the International Monetary Fund on Monday said Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan increased their gold reserves last month. Russian holdings rose 8.4 metric tons to 990 tons, while Kazakhstan’s central bank purchased 2.6 tons to take its total holdings to 125.5 tons.
In electronic trade on Monday, July silver rose 13 cents to $22.63 an ounce, stretching last week’s rise of 0.6%. Traders hope for silver price outbreak in the coming week.
