Gold prices rise as dollar weakens

Gulf Today Report 

Gold advanced on Wednesday after the dollar declined due to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen nominee highlighting the need for a huge stimulus to aid in economic recovery.

Spot gold gained 0.6% to $1,850.66 per ounce while US gold futures added 0.5% to $1,850.

Yellen stressed the need for large coronavirus relief, saying the benefits out shadow the expenses of a higher debt burden.

FXTM market analyst Han Tan said "with more rounds of fiscal stimulus expected under the Joe Biden administration, further championed by Yellen's call to "act big", such measures could well pump up US inflationary pressures while boosting gold prices in tandem." 

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The dollar has declined from a four-week high and US Treasury yields also fell after Yellen’s call to nullify large corporations tax cuts enacted in 2017.

Howie Lee, an economist at OCBC Bank said: "gold at $2,000 is still achievable, probably by the mid of second quarter, when a good amount of people get inoculated and there's so much cash in the system with demand almost coming back to normal."

It will lead to a lot of people paying close attention to inflation.

Silver climbed 0.8% to $25.40 an ounce. Platinum rose 1.1% to $1,095.13 and palladium gained 0.6% to $2,367.29.