TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Gold hits new high, equities struggle on virus fears
Virus uncertainty combined with China-US tensions has sent gold soaring nearly 30 percent this year – and on Tuesday it struck another record pinnacle at US$1,981.27 per ounce in Asian trade before pulling back somewhat.
Change Size
Thais flock to sell gold as demand for cash increases after the partial shut down caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) hurts the local economy in Bangkok, Thailand April 16, 2020. (REUTERS/Jorge Silva)
G
a href="/news/2020/07/28/gold-rockets-toward-2000-as-fed-stimulus-sinks-dollar.html" target="_blank">Gold chalked up another record peak on Tuesday, while equity markets struggled with mounting coronavirus fears amid a political fight in Washington over another fiscal package to support the battered US economy.
With fresh infection spikes in Asia and Europe – on top of the already high number of new cases in the United States – and new containment measures, the global economic outlook remains clouded.
Virus uncertainty combined with China-US tensions has sent gold soaring nearly 30 percent this year – and on Tuesday it struck another record pinnacle at US$1,981.27 per ounce in Asian trade before pulling back somewhat.
Some observers still predict $2,000 could be broken as early as this week.
Read also: Gold price surge blessing in disguise for Indonesia
The euro pulled back from its recent nearly two-year peak ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting, part of a jam-packed US economic calendar playing out over the next couple of days.
Investors are also looking ahead to the first estimate of second-quarter US gross domestic product and a congressional hearing with the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook.
Wall Street stocks finished decisively lower as legislators in Washington appeared far apart on another round of fiscal support for the coronavirus-battered economy.
Republican congressional leaders on Monday released details of their long-awaited spending plan to boost the economy.
However, the proposal contains many differences from the one backed by congressional Democrats.
Supplemental unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire this week, putting pressure on Washington to come up with a replacement for funds that have helped blunt the economic carnage from the shutdowns so far.
"The spread between the Democratic and Republican proposals hasn't closed any," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities.
"The market is frustrated at how we have to watch Washington grind things out."
