Gold Nearly Breaks $1,700 Support as U.S. Risk Appetite Flares

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com – Gold tumbled on Tuesday, coming its closest in two weeks to breaking below the $1,700-per-ounce support as risk appetite flared across Wall Street and other markets from the reopening of the U.S. economy from coronavirus-imposed lockdowns.

U.S. gold futures for June settled down $29.90, or 1.7%, at $1,705.60 per ounce, after hitting a session bottom of $1,704.10.

It was the first time since May 13 that gold futures came close to losing its $1,700 perch as investors veered from safe havens and into instruments such as stocks, sending Wall Street’s major indices up about 2% each, while lifting U.S. oil prices to nearly $35 per barrel at one point.

Spot gold, which tracks real-time trades in bullion, fell $15.13, or 0.9%, to $1,713.84 by 2:47 PM ET (18:47 GMT).

“Too much good news on the virus front, reopening momentum, and roaring Nasdaq has gold prices reeling,” Ed Moya, analyst at OANDA in New York, said, adding that this combination had cast a pall over the trillions of dollars of Covid-19 related stimulus spending and U.S.-China tensions that recently reinforced gold’s standing at above $1,700.

“For gold, risk appetite needs to wane a little for it to get its mojo back,” Moya said. “Gold needs financial markets to become frustrated again and that should not take long to happen.”