Gold Down, Expectations for U.S. Stimulus Rises

Gold was down on Monday morning in Asia, with China reporting a smaller-than-expected growth in GDP for the third quarter and expectations growing for the U.S. Congress passage of the latest stimulus measures ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Gold futures edged down 0.11% at $1,904.30 by 12:29 AM ET (4:29 AM GMT), remaining above the $1,900 mark.

Data released earlier in the day showed 4.9% growth in GDP year-on-year foe the third quarter, lower than the predicted 5.2% growth in forecasts prepared by Investing.com. However, industrial production grew 6.9% year-on-year and retail sales grew 3.3% year-on-year. The unemployment rate of 5.4% was down from the previous quarter’s rate of 5.6%.

Although bullion demand saw little demand recovery during the Chinese Golden Week holidays at the beginning of the month, Indian physical gold dealers are continuing to stock up ahead of a festival expected to increase demand.

Elsewhere, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Sunday that the central bank would not likely change its inflation target nor its forward guidance despite the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank reviewing their respective policy frameworks to seek better ways to prop up economic growth amid rising numbers of COVID-19 cases.

Expectations of the U.S. Congress passing the latest stimulus measures before the Nov. 3 presidential election also saw investors cautiously retreating from safe-haven assets such as the yellow metal. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a Tuesday deadline for Congress to pass the measures and was optimistic that the deadline could be met. President Donald Trump has also renewed an offer to increase the measures’ price tag.

Investors are also eyeing the progress of post-Brexit talks between the U.K. and the European Union, due to be revived on Monday after the previous week’s attempts to reach an agreement failed.

Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust (P:GLD), the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund globally, were down 0.27% to 1,272.56 tons on Friday, with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission saying on the same day that speculators decreased their bullish positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to Oct. 13.