Commodity Market: Gold registers a new all-time high, poised for a ninth straight week of gains

Spot Gold registered a new all-time high on Friday, as the US Dollar remained near lows unseen in over 2 years, while investor concerns over the global economic impact from the spreading coronavirus continued to support demand for the safe haven metal.

The latest data by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University showed total confirmed COVID-19 cases had already surpassed 19.100 million worldwide, with US cases now exceeding 4.883 million. Global death toll has surpassed 715,000, with more than 160,000 deaths reported in the United States alone.

Meanwhile, negotiations between White House officials and congressional Democrats on new coronavirus relief legislation have so far shown no sign of an agreement. Reaching a consensus on the cost of fiscal stimulus measures is critical to prevent the US economy from losing more traction, with 31.3 million people in the country being on jobless benefits in mid-July.

An “additional boost” needs to be provided to US economy, so that it could weather the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

As of 9:20 GMT on Friday Spot Gold was edging down 0.11% to trade at $2,061.11 per troy ounce, after earlier touching an intraday high of $2,075.28, a fresh all-time high. The precious metal advanced 10.95% in July, while marking its fourth consecutive month of gains and also the best monthly performance since January 2012. It has risen 4.23% so far this week and is set to record its ninth successive week of advance.

Meanwhile, Gold futures for delivery in October were edging up 0.10% on the day to trade at $2,060.45 per troy ounce, while Silver futures for delivery in September were up 0.20% to trade at $28.457 per troy ounce.

The US Dollar Index, which reflects the relative strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was edging up 0.31% on Friday to 93.05, while hovering just above yesterday’s 26 1/2-month low. Weaker US Dollar tends to make Gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Today Gold traders will be paying attention to the monthly report on US Non-Farm Payrolls at 12:30 GMT. Employers in all segments of US economy, excluding the farming industry, probably added 1.600 million new jobs in July, according to market expectations, after a job gain of 4.800 million in June.

The rate of unemployment in the country probably eased to 10.5% in July, according to estimates, from 11.1% in June.

Meanwhile, near-term investor interest rate expectations were without change. According to CME’s FedWatch Tool, as of August 7th, investors saw a 100.0% chance of the Federal Reserve keeping borrowing costs at the current 0%-0.25% level at its policy meeting on September 15th-16th, or unchanged compared to August 6th.

Daily Pivot Levels (traditional method of calculation)

Central Pivot – $2,055.93
R1 – $2,077.20
R2 – $2,091.09
R3 – $2,112.36
R4 – $2,133.64

S1 – $2,042.04
S2 – $2,020.76
S3 – $2,006.87
S4 – $1,992.98