Metals Stocks: Gold prices remain higher, but pull back from move above $2,000 an ounce as U.S. dollar firms

Gold prices were seeing muted action, but tilting higher, early Monday as a bounce in the U.S. dollar muted some of the rally that has taken bullion near a psychologically significant level near $2,000.

A measure of the buck was rising solidly to start the first trading day in August, with the ICE U.S. Dollar index up 0.5% at 93.77, after trading around a two-year low against a basket of a half-dozen currencies.

“The dollar bounce has certainly taken the edge off gold, although not before it took another run at $2,000 early in the session,” wrote Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda in a daily research report. A stronger dollar can make assets priced in the currency more expensive of overseas buyers.

“This feels like a very natural place for gold to be experiencing some profit-taking after hitting a new record high last week but there’s nothing to suggest we’re going to see a larger pullback at this stage,” he wrote.

December gold GCZ20, -0.07% GC00, -0.07% edged up $1, or less than 0.1%, to $1,986.90 an ounce, after touching a fresh intraday peak at 2,009.50, according to FactSet data. Last Friday, bullion posted a weekly climb of 4.7%, while the 10.3% gain in July marked the best monthly rise since February of 2016, according to FactSet data.

The yellow metal has enjoyed a rally to all-time records amid concerns about the economic impact of COVID-19 and the actions taken by governments and central banks to help mitigate the harm to businesses in attempting to curtail the spread of the pathogen.

The global tally for infections from the disease derived from the novel strain of coronavirus stands at more than 18 million and almost 690,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

September silver SIU20, 0.86%, meanwhile, picked up 16 cents, or 0.7%, to trade at $24.375 an ounce, after putting in a weekly slide of 1.2%, with a monthly return of nearly 30% based on the most actively traded contract.

Elsewhere on Comex, September copper HGU20, 1.12% headed 2 cents, or 0.8%, higher on Monday at $2.89 a pound, after a weekly decline of 1% and a monthly advance of 5.1%. October platinum PLV20, 0.89% edged up 0.2% at $921.10 an ounce, following a weekly drop of 4.3% with a monthly rise of 8%. September palladium PAU20, 1.00% added 0.3% at $2,151.90 an ounce early Monday, after palladium declined 9% for the week and notched a monthly gain of 9.1%