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    Gold jumps to 7-year high on fears virus will hit global growth

    Synopsis

    Spot gold rose 1.1% to $1,636.60 per ounce as of 1256 GMT, after hitting its highest since Feb.14, 2013 at $1,636.66 earlier this session. U.S. gold futures jumped 1.2% to $1,639.60.

    gold
    Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $1,625.05 per ounce by 0409 GMT.
    Gold rose 1% on Friday to its highest in seven years as the spread of the coronavirus intensified concerns about its impact on economic activity and global growth, increasing the metal's safe-haven appeal.

    Spot gold rose 1.1% to $1,636.60 per ounce as of 1256 GMT, after hitting its highest since Feb.14, 2013 at $1,636.66 earlier this session. U.S. gold futures jumped 1.2% to $1,639.60.

    Bullion has risen 3.3% so far this week, on track for its best week since early August.

    "There is a rise in risk aversion again due to fears that the cononavirus will spread further. The virus poses a major risk for the global economy," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.

    This is likely to force western central banks to maintain easy monetary policy, he added.

    South Korea reported 52 new cases, taking the national total to 156, while Japan reported the first fatalities from a cruise ship which accounted for the biggest cluster of infections outside China.

    Meanwhile, China reported an uptick in new cases of coronavirus, boosted by over 200 people testing positive in two prisons outside of Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

    The increase in number of new cases hit stock markets around across the world, putting them on course for their worst week in four.

    Among other safe havens, the U.S. government bonds gained as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to its lowest since September.

    Further spread of the disease could derail a "highly fragile" projected recovery in the global economy in 2020, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

    Elsewhere, palladium rose 0.3 % to $2,698.16 an ounce and was up about 11% this week. It hit a record high of $2,841.54 earlier in the week on prolonged supply concerns.

    However, net-long positions in palladium have fallen to 6,062 contracts in the week to Feb. 11, lowest since September 2018.

    In terms of technicals, the market is overbought, indicating that "the trend is coming to an end," so, speculators are reducing their net-long positions on fears of a possible downward correction, said Peter Fertig, an analyst at Quantitative Commodity Research.

    Silver was up 1% at $18.53 and was set to register its strongest week since end-August. Platinum edged up 0.6% to $983.86 and was on track to post a weekly gain.



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    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today.

    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

    ...more
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