Gold ticks up ahead of the EU session

Gold moved higher during the Asian session after the greenback lost some ground. Once again the yellow metal starts the EU session trading around the $1900 per ounce level. After the rout in stock markets in the US session, the Asian bourses held up pretty well. The ASX was the main laggard falling 1.70% but the Nikkei 225 (-0.04%), Shanghai Composite (0.10%) and Hang Seng (-0.75%) showed broad-based mixed sentiment.

Silver is trading 0.89% higher, while platinum has also pushed 0.91% in the black. After falling heavily copper has stabilised at $3.07 per pound. In the FX market, the Canadian dollar has performed well but this is mainly due to a small retracement the CAD came under some pressure yesterday following the oil price drop.

The main story from late US leading into Asia was from the US fiscal stimulus saga. According to sources, US congressional committees have reportedly made progress but not enough to make the stimulus deal anywhere near imminent. Sticking with the US Amy Coney Barratt has been confirmed as a supreme court judge after a closely contested 52 vs 48 vote.

Virus cases around the world continue to rack up. The French government are reportedly looking into a full lockdown in the Paris Lyon and Marseille regions. UK COVID-19 cases continue to rise too as yesterday 20,890 cases were reported vs 19,790 the previous day. Keep an eye on today's results as there always seems to be a weekend effect on the numbers.

On the corporate front, today we will get hear from some major banks in the EU. HSBC and Santander are due to report earnings. On the data front, the market will get the latest US core durable goods data, US CB consumer confidence and there could be more Brexit headlines. BP, Eli Lily and Pfizer are also due to provide updates.

By Rajan Dhall

For Kitco News

David