Gold Silver Reports ~ Gold headed for the biggest quarterly advance since September 1990 as demand for haven assets surged to make the metal this year’s best performing major commodity.
Bullion for immediate delivery rose 0.5 percent to $1,230.86 an ounce by 3:22 p.m. in Singapore. The metal is up 16 percent since the start of January in the first quarterly gain since June 2014.
Gold rallied this year as it cemented its status as a store of value amid financial market turbulence and concern about the global economy, which led to speculation that the Federal Reserve would pause on tightening monetary policy in the U.S. A gauge of the U.S. currency headed for the biggest quarterly loss since 2010 after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday the central bank will act “cautiously” as it looks to withdraw stimulus. Investor holdings in exchange-traded products have expanded by about 300 metric tons this quarter, the most since March 2009.
“The dovish remarks by Yellen earlier this week which reinforced the Fed’s stance to proceed gradually and cautiously with rate hikes this year have weighed on the U.S. dollar index, which is a positive for gold,” Vyanne Lai, an economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., said by e-mail. “Investment demand for gold appears to be holding up.”
Traders now see no chance of a change in Fed policy next month and only a 54 percent likelihood of an interest rate increase by December. Higher borrowing costs curb the appeal of bullion.
In China, Gold Silver of 99.99 percent purity lost 1.2 percent to 256.50 yuan a gram ($1,234.09 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
Spot silver added 0.3 percent to $15.277 an ounce for a quarterly gain of 10 percent. Platinum rose 0.5 percent to $967 an ounce and is up 8.5 percent this quarter, the most since the period ended September 2012. ~ Neal Bhai Reports
