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Gold futures traded mostly higher on Friday, but struggled to hold above the key $2,000-an-ounce level, as banking-sector fears spread to Germany’s Deutsche Bank, contributing to a slide in the U.S. stock market.
Silver prices also climbed, rising to their highest level in more than six weeks.
Price action
-
Gold futures for April delivery
GC00,
+0.19% GCJ23,
+0.19%
was up $1.10, or nearly 0.1%, to $1,997 per ounce on Comex, though seesawed between modest losses and gains in Friday dealings. They settled at $1,995.90 on Thursday, the highest for a most-active contract since March 10, 2022, FactSet data show. For the week, prices were on track for a gain of around 1.2%. -
Silver futures for May
SI00,
+1.24% SIK23,
+1.24%
rose by 20.9 cents, or 0.9%, to $23.465 per ounce, trading at levels not seen since early February. -
Palladium futures for June delivery
PAM23,
-2.22%
fell by $19.30, or 1.4%, to $1,413.50 per ounce, while April platinum
PLJ23,
-1.64%
declined by $13.10, or 1.3%, to $979.80 per ounce. -
Copper futures for May delivery
HGK23,
-0.98%
fell by 4 cents, or 1%, to $4.084 per pound.
Market drivers
“The curse of the big round number has struck again, and gold is struggling to get past $2,000,” Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told MarketWatch.
Gold futures traded as high as $2,006.50 in Friday dealings, after touching intraday highs above $2,000 two other times this week, but prices still haven’t settled above that key mark since March 10 of last year.
Gold has benefited from safe-haven inflows since the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month.
A risk-off mood returned to global markets on Friday as Deutsche Bank AG
DBK,
shares slumped more than 13, while Treasury yields declined as investors sought out the safety of government debt.
Just like in 2008, when gold first topped $1,000 an ounce on the Bear Stearns’ bailout, “gold has found a strong bid from anxious savers and investors, but in a genuine crisis everything gets sold,” said Ash, noting steep losses in equities that can become a headwind for bullion.
The big difference from 15 years ago, however, is the strong bid coming from central-bank buying and also China’s private-sector gold demand, he said.
“Short-term panics aside, the underlying strength that’s seen gold stair-stepping higher across the last five years looks set to continue, with a rising floor built by emerging-market sovereigns and households,” said Ash.
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