logo
Gold rebounds as US dollar, Treasury yields retreat

Gold rebounds as US dollar, Treasury yields retreat

Reuters3 days ago
July 16 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Wednesday, helped by a slight pullback in the dollar and bond yields, while investors digested data showing an increase in U.S. consumer prices last month and waited for further clarity on U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy.
Spot gold was up 0.5% at $3,337.29 per ounce, as of 0550 GMT. U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% higher to $3,343.90.
The dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab eased from a one-month peak, making gold more attractive for other currency holders. Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields retreated from multi-week highs.
"Many countries are still negotiating with the U.S. on the tariffs. There are still a lot of uncertainties in the market and many are looking for safe havens," said Brian Lan, managing director at GoldSilver Central, Singapore.
Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1. However, Trump said on Monday he was open to further negotiations.
U.S. consumer prices increased in June by the most in five months amid higher costs for some goods, suggesting tariffs were starting to have an impact on inflation and potentially keeping the Federal Reserve on the sidelines until September.
Following the data, Trump said that consumer prices were low and the Fed should bring down interest rates now.
The U.S. central bank will probably need to leave rates where they are for a while longer to ensure inflation stays low in the face of upward pressure from the Trump administration's tariffs, Dallas Fed Bank President Lorie Logan said.
Gold, often considered a safe haven during times of economic uncertainties, tends to do well in a low-interest-rate environment.
Market focus now shifts to the U.S. Producer Price Index data due at 1230 GMT on Wednesday for more cues.
Elsewhere, spot silver gained 0.3% to $37.83 per ounce. Platinum rose 0.3% to $1,375.63 and palladium climbed 0.2% to $1,208.91.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Is China cooking the books on its economy?
Is China cooking the books on its economy?

Spectator

time3 hours ago

  • Spectator

Is China cooking the books on its economy?

A Western financial analyst based in Shanghai once described China's economic statistics to me as 'one of greatest works of contemporary Chinese fiction'. Not even the Communist party's (CCP) own officials believed them. A cottage industry of esoteric techniques developed to try and measure what was really going on, ranging from diesel and electricity demand to the fluctuating levels of the country's chronic air pollution, car sales, traffic congestion, job postings and construction – even the sale of underwear or pickled vegetables. One enterprising analyst regularly sent spies to Shanghai port to count the ships and throughput of trucks. I thought about that conversation again this week when China's National Bureau of Statistics published new figures claiming that the economy grew by 5.2 per cent in the three months to the end of June and thereby 'withstood pressure and made steady improvement despite challenges'. Growth figures have always been political rather than economic in China but have become even more so as Beijing seeks to demonstrate that its economy is resilient enough to withstand any further tariffs that Donald Trump might throw at it should their fragile trade truce break down. I have no idea what new techniques the hapless Shanghai analysts are now deploying, but questioning the official figures has become increasingly dangerous in the China of President Xi Jinping. Shortly before Christmas, Gao Sanwen, a top economist and former official at China's central bank, cast doubt on official figures, telling a conference in Washington DC that China's growth over recent years was likely just 2 per cent, which is less than half what the government had claimed. Gao then promptly disappeared from view. Online commentaries in which he had also highlighted soaring unemployment, China's 'dispirited youth' and 'disenchanted middle-aged' were deleted by censors. A few months earlier, Zhu Hengpeng, a top economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Economics also disappeared after making disparaging remarks about Xi Jinping's economic stewardship in what he thought was a private online chat group. It is more difficult than ever to tell what is really going on with the Chinese economy since the CCP has effectively criminalised pessimism. The Ministry of State Security, its main spy agency, has declared that gloom about the economy is a foreign smear and that 'false theories about 'China's deterioration' are being circulated to attack China's unique socialist system'. It could well be that China's economy did get a bounce in the three months to the end of June as factories ramped up production and pumped out more exports in order to beat any future tariffs. The government has also attempted to boost consumer demand with a trade-in programme worth an estimated $42 billion (£31.3 billion) so far this year, covering a range of consumer goods, from washing machines to electric vehicles (EVs), air conditioners, smartphones and tablets. Xi has pledged to 'fully unleash' China's consumers, but retail sales actually slowed in June, with consumers cautious in the face of a continuing property slump and a deteriorating jobs market. Housing accounts for around 70 per cent of Chinese household wealth, and with prices continuing to fall, consumers appear to be in no mood to be unleashed. Meanwhile, the CCP has begrudgingly acknowledged that the economy is chronically overproducing, notably in renewable tech, such as batteries, EVs and solar panels – though the party will not bring itself to use that term. Instead, it has embraced the term 'involution' (neijuan in mandarin), which describes what it sees as unhealthy and self-destructive competition, which it acknowledges is fuelling deflation and undermining growth. What it doesn't acknowledge is that this is a direct result of its own policies – the enormous subsidies thrown at these industries, which in turn is fuelling global wariness about being the target of Chinese exporters desperate to dump this stuff. The CCP has set a full-year growth target of around 5 per cent, and by hook or by crook it will hit that, no matter what is really going on in the economy. It is not simply a matter of the Chinese government cooking the books, since creating this particular work of fiction is more complex than that. The Chinese economy is a surreal organism, which simply can't be measured by the tools that would usually be brought to bear in other developed economies. The system creates perverse incentives whereby officials at every level are under enormous pressure to manipulate data in order to be seen to fulfil the party's growth targets, for which they are rewarded or punished. Add to that mix a brewing trade war with America and you are left with statistics that are more political and untrustworthy than ever. My Shanghai analyst soon found another proxy for measuring economic activity – the throughput of visitors at Shanghai Disneyland. I said that felt a little far-fetched, which he acknowledged, but pointed out that a morning in the company of Mickey Mouse was a lot more fun and potentially more productive than dealing with officials at the National Bureau of Statistics.

Scott Morrison to testify before US House panel on China
Scott Morrison to testify before US House panel on China

The Guardian

time4 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Scott Morrison to testify before US House panel on China

The former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison will testify at a US House panel hearing next week about countering China's 'economic coercion against democracies,' the committee said on Friday. Rahm Emanuel, the former US ambassador to Japan, will also testify before the House select committee on China. Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, cooled further in 2020 after the Morrison government called for an independent investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 virus. China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as 'economic coercion'. Morrison was defeated in a bid for reelection in 2022. His successor, Anthony Albanese, visited China this week, underscoring a warming of ties. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The prime minister spent this week touring the country with stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu amid a period of geopolitical instability and escalating trade hostilities between the US and its trading partners. Albanese also sniped back at the opposition's criticism of his 'indulgent' six-day visit, pointing out the former Coalition government failed to hold a single phone call with the major trading partner for years. Reuters reported this week that Canberra is close to an agreement with Beijing that would allow Australian suppliers to ship five trial canola cargoes to China, sources familiar with the matter said, a move towards ending a years-long freeze in the trade. China imposed 100% tariffs on Canadian canola meal and oil this year amid strained diplomatic ties. Emanuel, who told a Chicago news outlet last month he is considering a run for president in 2028, has been a harsh critic of China, saying last year Beijing constantly uses coercion and pressures other countries, including Japan and the Philippines. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'Economic coercion by China is their most persistent and pernicious tool in their toolbox,' Emanuel said in a separate speech in 2023. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store