* Dollar falls after 10-day winning streak
\n* SPDR Gold Trust holdings rise for 11th day
\n* Silver at three-month top, palladium at three-week high<\/p>\n
NEW YORK\/LONDON, Feb 16 Gold rose on Thursday as
\nthe dollar weakened after a 10-day winning streak and investors
\ntook the opportunity to buy bullion as a hedge against political
\nuncertainty in the United States and Europe.
\nSpot gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,240.86 an ounce by
\n2:37 p.m. EST (1937 GMT), and is up about 10 percent from a
\nmid-December low. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.7
\npercent at $1,241.60.
\nConcern over U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies, as well
\nas elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year,
\nhave fueled gold’s rise to a peak of $1,244.67 on Feb. 8.
\nBut the prospect of a higher dollar and U.S. Treasury yields
\nafter U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said that U.S.
\ninterest rates may need to be raised in March pushed gold to
\n$1,216.41 on Wednesday, its lowest since Feb. 3.<\/p>\n
A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of
\nother currencies, while higher yields increase the opportunity
\ncost of holding non-yielding bullion. Higher interest rates
\nwould lift yields further.
\n“It’s a tug of war between a higher probability of a U.S.
\nrate hike in March and upcoming elections around Europe, which
\nare creating uncertainty and demand for safe assets,” said Jens
\nPedersen at Danske Bank.
\nU.S. residential construction and employment data on
\nThursday showed that the economy continued to rebound.<\/p>\n
“As I see it, a relatively small group of hedge funds and
\ninstitutional speculators have been calling the tune for gold,
\ntrading the recent range, buying on dips, selling on rallies,
\nand gradually adding to their physical holdings – a behavioral
\npattern we expect will continue within a rising trading range –
\nat least until a price above the $1,300 an ounce level is well
\nestablished,” said Jeffrey Nichols, senior economic adviser to
\nRosland Capital.
\nHoldings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed
\nexchange-traded fund, increased for an 11th consecutive day on
\nWednesday.
\nIn other precious metals, palladium was up 0.3
\npercent, at $791.75 an ounce, after tapping $794.90, its highest
\nsince Jan. 24.
\nThe metal used in emission-controlling catalytic converters
\nfor the automotive industry has risen 17 percent this year.
\nBut car sales in the United States and China in the first
\nquarter are likely to disappoint investors and cause a
\ncorrection that could drive prices below $700, said Julius Baer
\nanalyst Carsten Menke.
\nSilver was up 0.5 percent at $18.07, after reaching a
\nthree-month high at 18.13. Platinum was 0.6 percent lower
\nat $1,009.45.<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
* Dollar falls after 10-day winning streak * SPDR Gold Trust holdings rise for 11th…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n