MANILA (Reuters) – Gold stabilised near a three-month top early on Wednesday, its safe-haven appeal kept intact by concerns over a wobbly global economy that has put share markets under pressure.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold (XAU=) was off 0.2 percent at $ 1,127.07 an ounce by 0044 GMT, not far below Tuesday’s peak of $ 1,130.30, its strongest since Nov. 3.
* U.S. gold for April delivery (GCcv1) was flat at $ 1,127.70 an ounce.
* Global interest rates are likely to go even lower before they rise as financial market volatility and the spectre of deflation raise fresh doubts about central banks’ ability to fulfil their mandates, policymakers and economists said.
* That should be supportive for gold, an asset that thrives on uncertainty. Expectations that the Federal Reserve may also go easy on raising interest rates amid the global economic headwinds had helped gold rise the most in a year in January.
* But Kansas City Fed Bank President Esther George said the Fed should push ahead with interest rate hikes because of the strong fundamentals of the U.S. economy.
* India’s latest attempt to curb the country’s love for gold – by forcing buyers of high-value jewellery to disclose their tax code – has boosted unofficial trading in the world’s second-biggest gold consumer, rather than promote transparency and dent demand.
* For the top stories on metals and other news, click [TOP/MTL] or [GOL]
MARKET NEWS
* Asian shares sagged as oil prices sank again due to fading hopes of a deal to curb a global glut, prompting investor to seek shelter in safe-haven assets and lifting bonds and gold to multi-month highs. [MKTS/GLOB]
* The yen and euro held on to overnight gains against the dollar, driving down U.S. debt yields to nine-month lows and dulling the greenback’s appeal.
(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Richard Pullin)
