Singapore, March 16 (BNA): The safe-haven gold halted its rally on Thursday as traders prepared for further developments surrounding the banking sector crisis after Credit Suisse became the latest focal point.
Spot gold was down 0.1%, at $1916.89 an ounce, as of 0648 GMT, after jumping more than 1% to $1937.28 on Wednesday. US gold futures fell 0.5 percent to $1,922.00.
Credit Suisse Group AG said Thursday, in a slowdown in some stock market selling, that it plans to borrow up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank to boost liquidity after shares of the main Swiss lender slumped on Wednesday, Reuters reported. . .
As investors search for safe assets to store money after the banking crisis sparked gold’s recent rally, they are now waiting for fresh signals, said Harish V, head of commodity research at Geojit Financial Services, describing Thursday’s slight pullback as technical. revision.
Overall, gold was also supported by a weaker rival safe-haven dollar, which made bullion cheaper for overseas buyers.
“Gold’s strong long-term average performance in the run-up to and after both the initial Fed rate cuts and a US recession makes us bullish as macro uncertainty swirls,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note, forecasting gold to reach 2000 dollars. / oz this year.
Bullion is a hedge against economic uncertainty, although higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset.
Markets are now placing a 68.9% chance of a 25 basis point hike at the US Federal Reserve meeting in March.
Goldman Sachs raised the probability of the US economy entering a recession within the next 12 months to 35% amid pressure from smaller banks.
Spot silver fell 0.4% to $21.69 an ounce, platinum fell 0.1% at $961.27, and palladium lost 0.5% at $1455.03.