Gold Down Over Optimism for U.S. Stimulus Talks

Gold was down on Wednesday morning in Asia’s precious metals. The increasing optimism over U.S. talks for the latest stimulus measures and a COVID-19 vaccine sees a retreat from gold.

By 12:25 AM ET (4:25 AM GMT), gold futures were down 0.32% at $1,813.15. It remained over the $1,800 mark. Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust (P:GLD) also fell 0.3% to 1,191.28 tons on Tuesday. It was from 1,194.78 tons on Monday.

Optimism rose after House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin held their first talks. They have resumed discussions about the latest stimulus measures since the Nov. 3 presidential elections.

Senate leader Mitch McConnell urged Congress to include a fresh wave of measures in a $1.4 trillion spending bill. It was aimed at heading off a government shutdown amid COVID-19. Moreover, he also teased a revised version of his own plan to fellow Republicans.

Emergency lending programs started by the Federal Reserve during the pandemic could be revived quickly. That is after they expire at year-end, according to senior New York Federal Reserve official Lorie Logan on Tuesday.

A Call for More Fiscal Support

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans called for more fiscal support. Although he and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said that they saw no immediate need for further monetary stimulus.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was more wary. He issued a warning that the U.S. economy remains in a damaged and uncertain state. This was during his testimony at Tuesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing. 

He will testify again before Congress later in the day. The U.S. central  bank also meets for its policy meeting on Dec. 15 and 16.

COVID-19 cases continue to rise globally. On Tuesday, a plan to inoculate Americans as soon as mid-December was unveiled.

Vaccine developers could potentially meet that deadline. BioNTech SE says that shipment of the first doses of its candidate BNT162b2, could happen within hours after approval.  It was co-developed with Pfizer Inc.

Moderna Inc also announced plans to request clearance for its candidate mRNA-1273 in the U.S. and Europe. The two developers both have applied for emergency European Union approval on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in energy commodities, oil futures edged lower on Wednesday. Traders were awaiting a decision by the OPEC+, on whether to relax existing curbs on crude output next month.

Also weighing on prices were data from an industry trade group. Analysts said, they showed a rise in U.S. crude inventories last week.