Information Center by DahabMasr

- Gold and silver prices are trading near unchanged levels on the day in early U.S. action Thursday. The precious metals are seeing a routine pause after the strong gains posted Wednesday that have put the bulls in firm near-term technical control. February gold futures were last down $0.40 at $1,843.10 and March Comex silver was last up $0.029 at $24.26 an ounce.

Following yesterday’s rally in a short-squeeze, gold prices continued to refresh two-month highs seen around $1,846 earlier in a largely quiet session on Thursday. On Wednesday, the precious metal saw the largest daily gains since November, deriving support from a downside correction in US Treasury yields that pushed the dollar lower.

After a strong 2020 performance where the price rallied 25% in US dollar terms in an environment where rates fell, gold has been much weaker during 2021, down 5% year-to-date with rising rates. While demand for gold has rebounded, particularly in the jewelry and bar and coin markets, the recent gold price sell-off has been largely driven by the sharp increase in interest rates in global fixed income markets relative to the record lows they reached last year 

Gold—Not Just a commodity

Gold is often part of the broad commodity complex: as a component of a commodity index, a holding in an ETF, or a future trading on a commodity exchange. While gold shares some similarities with commodities

Gold benefits from diverse sources of demand: as an investment, a reserve asset, jewelry, and a technology component. It is highly liquid, no one’s liability, carries no credit risk, and is scarce, historically preserving its value over time.