Gold Prices Hold Amid Volatile Markets, Copper Sees Little Relief By Investing.com

Investing.com– Gold prices steadied in Asian trade on Thursday, clawing back some recent losses as increased volatility in risk-based markets, particularly equities, kept havens relatively well traded.

Among industrial metals, copper prices edged higher on Thursday but recovered only part of recent losses, with weak imports from the data further undermining the red metal.

Broader metals markets advanced but remained mostly capped amid uncertainty about the global economy and interest rates.

It rose 0.5 percent to $2,394.15 an ounce, while December expiry settled at $2,433.10 an ounce by 01:25 ET (05:25 GMT).

Gold stabilizes, market volatility keeps safe havens in play

The yellow metal remained close to the closely watched level of $2,400 an ounce and was still less than $100 away from record highs.

Risk-driven markets have seen wild swings in recent sessions, with Wall Street falling despite a strong start on Wednesday, while Japanese markets fluctuated between gains and losses on Thursday.

This kept safe havens such as gold and the Japanese yen relatively well bid, although they saw some weakness this week as the broader markets briefly recovered.

The outlook for gold also looked brighter ahead of deeper interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, as markets bet that worsening economic conditions would prompt such a scenario.

Other precious metals rallied on Thursday, but have seen much bigger losses than gold in recent sessions. rose 0.8% to $930.15 an ounce, while rose 0.1% to $26.975 an ounce.

Copper rises, but China issues limit recovery

The London Metal Exchange benchmark rose slightly to $8,760.50 a tonne, while on the month it rose 0.4% to $3.9440 a pound.

Both contracts posted significant losses on Wednesday after data showed Chinese copper imports contracted for a second month in a row in July.

The reading heightened concerns about slowing demand in the world’s biggest copper importer, especially as they were preceded by weak readings on trade activity in China.