Gold climbs
NEW YORK: Gold prices climbed to two-month highs early on Friday, rising for the fourth straight day as investors sought refuge amid escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, while bullion also received support from weak US inflation data.
US President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea on Friday, saying the US military was “locked and loaded” as Pyongyang accused him of driving the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war and world powers expressed alarm.
Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,287.91 an ounce by 2:03 p.m. EDT (1803 GMT), and set for its biggest weekly gain since mid-April. It earlier hit $1,291.86, its highest level since June 7.
US gold futures settled up 0.3 percent at $1,294.
“There is a continuation of flight to the safe havens after remarks on Thursday evening from Trump about North Korea,” said Quantitative Commodity Research consultant Peter Fertig. “It’s not very likely that these tensions will ease in the near future so the outlook seems supportive for gold.”
Geopolitical risks can boost demand for assets considered safe-haven investments, such as gold.
“There remains huge uncertainty as to how the current geopolitical crisis will play out and this may support gold prices over the coming weeks,” said Capital Economics in a research note.
Data on Friday showed US consumer prices rose less than expected in July, which was also supportive to gold.
“If you look at the gold price after the CPI (inflation) data, it tells you that the Fed is not going to be in any rush to increase the interest rate this year,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets. “The level which we are looking at now is $1,300.”
The dollar index dipped to a one-week low after the data.
Silver was up 0.2 percent to $17.10 per ounce after hitting $17.24, its highest since June 14, in the previous session. It was on course for a weekly rise of 5.3 percent, the biggest such gain since July 2016.
Platinum climbed 1 percent to $986.20 per ounce after touching $991.50, its highest since March 6. It had gained about 2.8 percent for the week so far.
Palladium was flat at $896.50 per ounce and was on track to end the week about 2 percent higher.
US wheat falls
CHICAGO: US wheat futures fell on Friday, led lower by a sharp decline in MGEX spring wheat as investors liquidated bullish positions following the US Department of Agriculture’s forecast for a bigger-than-expected crop in the northern Plains, traders said.
The selloff pushed the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract to its lowest in nearly two months. MGEX spring wheat ended down 4.2 percent and hit its lowest since June 26, pressured by the USDA’s outlook for a bigger-than-expected crop in the northern Plains.
Chicago soyabean and corn futures edged higher, with mild bargain buying underpinning prices.
All three posted weekly declines as the USDA’s forecast on Thursday for bumper corn and soyabean harvests continued to hang over the market.
Wheat futures have fallen for five straight weeks, and corn and soyabeans for three.
Chicago Board of Trade September soft red winter wheat futures ended down 1-1/4 cents at $4.39-1/4 a bushel. MGEX spring wheat for September delivery shed 29-1/4 cents to $6.74 a bushel.
CBOT November soyabeans were 4-3/4 cents higher at $9.45 a bushel and CBOT December corn was up 3-3/4 cents at $3.74-3/4 a bushel.
The USDA on Thursday projected the US corn yield at 169.5 bushels per acre (bpa), below its previous forecast of 170.7, but well above the average trade estimate of 166.2 bpa.
The USDA also wrong-ooted investors by increasing its soyabeans yield forecast to 49.4 bpa from 48.0, rather than trimming it as expected.
Wheat markets remained dampened by the USDA’s supply outlook, which included a sharp increase in projected global wheat stocks in 2017-18, supported by increased estimates for Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh crops.—Reuters
