Gold Up, With Anaphylaxis Warnings Tempering COVID-19 Vaccine Enthusiasm

Gold was up on Thursday morning in Asia, with Wednesday’s optimism over a COVID-19 vaccine tempered by a warning that patients with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should not be inoculated.

Gold futures were up 0.30% at $1,844 by 12:22 AM ET (4:22 AM GMT). Prices stayed above the $1,800 mark as investors turned to the safe-haven yellow metal.

The warning came from the U.K.’s Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which granted a temporary authorization for emergency use for Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech’s (F:22UAy) BNT162b2 vaccine during the previous week.

The U.K. has already inoculated its first patients, and Health Canada gave its nod to the jab on Wednesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will convene to discuss the vaccine later in day, and distribution could begin within 24 hours if the FDA grants emergency use authorization during the meeting, Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and the U.K. are both racing against the clock for their latest stimulus measures and Brexit talks respectively. In Congress, negotiations are at their most intense since the Nov. 3 presidential election, as Republicans and Democrats work towards reaching a deal before a Dec. 11 deadline, after which the government will shut down. Although both sides are preparing proposals and counter proposals, they have yet to resolve disagreements over the price tag, business liability shields as well as aid to state and local governments.

Across the Atlantic, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed Brexit trade talks on Wednesday over a “frank” and “lively” dinner. However, the two leaders deferred a “firm decision” about the future of Brexit trade talks until Sunday, with both sides “far apart” on the trade deal. Talks will begin again later in the day to meet an end of year deadline for a deal.

The European Central Bank will also convene later in the day for its last policy meeting of 2020, where it is widely expected to roll out an increased and extended pandemic bond-buying program. The Federal Reserve will meet for its own policy meeting later in the day as well.