Gold scales record peak as gloomy economic outlook bolsters appeal

(Reuters) – Gold surged to a record high on Thursday as the COVID-19 pandemic clouded the economic outlook and bolstered bullion’s safe-haven allure, though analysts said the rapid pace of gains could prompt some correction.
Spot gold XAU= hit an all-time high of $2059.09 per ounce and was up 0.9% at $2,057.00 at 1153 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 1% to $2,069.

“It’s the best of all worlds for gold at the moment; we still have the coronavirus crisis in full swing mainly in the U.S… We still have the question of whether the economy is going to recover or will slip back into recession,” said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

Gold’s gains came despite a slight uptick in the U.S. dollar, which also benefited from receding risk sentiment as investors awaited U.S. jobs data for confirmation on the state of the world’s largest economy, even as Washington remained deadlocked over a large relief package.
The U.S. jobless claims are due at 1230 GMT, while payrolls figures will be released on Friday.

“In terms of economic numbers, they would really need to surprise to the upside to cool this market which is really overheating at the moment,” Menke added.

Gold has rallied more then 35% this year as it’s considered an asset that should hold its value while the pandemic and money printing by central banks erode the value of others.

While the outlook for gold remains fundamentally positive, a correction is also increasingly likely, analysts said.
“The problem is that sometimes a story is so strong that a market rallies too quickly for fundamentals to justify, and when price momentum begins to slow, those who got in too late give up and sell out early. That can inspire a pretty rapid technical correction,” IG Markets analyst Kyle Rodda said.

Elsewhere, silver XAG= rose 4% to $28.11 per ounce, having hit a more than seven year peak of $28.18.

Platinum XPT= rose 1.7% to $983.27 per ounce and palladium XPD= was up 0.9% to $2,201.69.