Gold gained on the final day of the quarter as rising investor anxiety over Deutsche Bank AG’s finances spurred a selloff in equities and helped to underpin demand for a haven.
Bullion for immediate delivery rose 0.5 percent to US$1,326.34 an ounce (28.3g) by 11:27am in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. That is the first gain in four days and pares the metal’s drop this week to 0.9 percent.
Traders are seeking haven assets amid increased concern over the health of the financial industry, with Bloomberg News reporting that 10 hedge funds that do business with Deutsche Bank have pared their exposure.
Photo: Reuters
There is heightened haven buying as anxiety grows over the German lender, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd said in a note.
“Risk-off sentiment in Europe, as evidenced by the fall in European equities this morning and the retreat in the euro against the [US] dollar, is supporting gold as a safe haven,” Jonathan Butler, a precious-metals strategist at Mitsubishi Corp, said by phone from London. “Concerns over the stability of the Eurozone’s financial sector seem to be supporting gold, as they have many times in the recent past.”
Bullion is still lower this week after a surge in US consumer confidence bolstered the case for the US central bank to raise rates this year. Prices also fell as US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton saw her odds of winning the presidency rise after the debate with her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump.
Citigroup Inc has said a Trump win next month could spur volatility in gold.
In other commodity news:
Holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by gold were little changed at 2,031.3 tonnes on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Spot silver was up 0.9 percent at US$19.2746 an ounce.
Platinum climbed 0.7 percent to US$1,034.45 an ounce.
Palladium rallied 0.5 percent to US$718.63 an ounce.
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