Gold Prices Gain, Trades Near 6-Month High

Investing.com – Gold prices edged up and traded near a more than six-month high on Thursday in Asia amid concerns on a global economic slowdown and volatility in stock markets.

for February delivery gained 0.6% to $1,291.85 at 1:34 AM ET (06:34 GMT) on the Comex exchange.

On Wednesday, Apple (NASDAQ:) lowered its forecast to $84 million in revenue for its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 29, underperforming analysts’ expectations of $91.5 billion.

The company initially forecasted revenue of between $89 billion and $93 billion.

Asian stocks traded mostly lower following the news, with Apple’s Asia-listed suppliers underperforming their regional peers.

Safe-haven assets including gold and the Japanese yen, on the other hand, received some support.

The U.S. dollar fell as much as 3% against the yen overnight.

Adding to fears of a global economic slowdown, data this week showed factory activity weakened in December across Asia, especially in China.

On Wednesday, China reported that the fell to 49.7 in December from 50.2 last month, marking the first contraction since May 2017.

A reading below 50 signals contraction.

The reading confirmed a trend seen in the official PMI that was reported on Monday, which showed a drop to 49.4 in December.

The that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies slipped 0.2% to 96.155.

Meanwhile, a softer dollar makes U.S. dollar-denominated bullion cheaper for investors holding other currencies.

“The weaker dollar lent some support for gold. People are more interested in gold as the stock markets are under pressure and are looking at gold as a safe haven,” said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.