Online Reporter
Gold bounced back after its biggest weekly decline in six months, with appetite for haven assets boosted by mounting concerns about the US economic outlook and budget deficit.
Bullion rose as much as 1,3 percent to around US$3 245 an ounce in early Asian trading. That was after Moody’s Ratings announced late Friday — it was downgrading the US government’s top credit rating of Aaa to Aa1. The agency blamed successive administrations’ inability to cut the budget deficit.
“While we recognise the US’ significant economic and financial strengths, we believe these no longer fully counterbalance the decline in fiscal metrics,” Moody’s said in a statement.
The precious metal has experienced price swings in recent months. It suffered the biggest weekly loss since November last week on easing geopolitical tensions, after a blistering rally that saw it climb above US$3 500 an ounce for the first time last month.
Gold is still up by more than one fifth this year, driven by global conflicts, US President Donald Trump’s tariff spree and inflows to exchange-traded funds.
“We expect gold to be volatile in the short term as we see a mix of good and bad news headlines,” said Vasu Menon, managing director of investment strategy at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. In the long run, Trump’s policies and diversification away from dollar-denominated assets are “structural tailwinds for gold that could see it scaling new heights in the coming years,” he added.
Gold traded 1,3 percent higher at US$3 245.67 an ounce as of 8:46 a.m. in Singapore. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0,3 percent. — Bloomberg.
