Market News

Gold (GC=F)

Gold prices inched higher on Monday morning, and continue to trade near all-time highs, with weakness in the dollar offering support to the precious metal.

Gold futures (GC=F) were up 0.2% at $3,293.30 an ounce at the time of writing, while the spot gold price climbed 1.4% to $3,286.03 per ounce.

Meanwhile, the US dollar (DX-Y.NYB) index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.2% to 97.17.

Gold tends to have an inverse relationship to the dollar, as it is typically traded in the US currency, so weakness in the greenback makes the precious metal cheaper for overseas buyers.

The rise in gold prices came despite more positive developments on trade, with investors typically turning to the precious metal as a safe-haven amid uncertainty.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Exuberance is set to continue at the start of the week, as more trade deal scores are on the doors and geopolitical tensions have eased off.

"Talks between Canada and the US are back on the cards, after an agreement to scrap a tax targeting American tech firms," she said. "There will now be speculation that other countries, like the UK, will be forced to drop their own taxes targeting the biggest tech firms in the world when further talks take place."

Streeter added: "The trade deal announced again between the US and China, has poured more optimism into glass half full attitudes. Even though it’s still pretty scant on detail, the agreement looks set to give US companies better access to crucial rare earth minerals, exported from China."