Gold futures were on track Tuesday for their first consecutive losses in about two weeks as a perkier U.S. dollar and a rebound in equities kept the haven metal under early selling pressure.
Market sentiment has moderated from the previous session when worries about a new transmissible strain of coronavirus spreading from the U.K. helped to drive equities lower and the dollar higher.
“Global stock markets have stabilized Tuesday after hitting some fresh Covid turbulence on Monday, and that is keeping buyers of the safe-haven metals tentative so far today,” wrote Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com.
Gold bulls still see longer-term positives for the yellow metal in the wake of a fresh $900 billion-fiscal stimulus package that was passed by Congress late Monday. Investors are betting that that fiscal aid package will continue to support the currency-devaluing thesis that has backed gold bids up this point, even if investors are currently taking some profit by selling bullion.
February gold
GCG21,
lost was trading relatively flat at $1,882.70, off by less than 0.1%, after shedding 0.3% on Monday. A second day of losses for bullion will mark its first consecutive declines since the three-session skid ended Dec. 9, FactSet data show.
Silver for March delivery
SIH21,
,
meanwhile, shed 16 cents, or 0.6%, to trade at $26.24 an ounce, after rising 1.3% in the previous session.