Gold heads towards highest close since ’16

Bloomberg

Gold advanced for a fifth day, heading for the highest close since August 2016, as investors got behind a rally brought on by a falling dollar. Volume soared in the futures market, with trading more than double the daily average.
Metal for immediate delivery climbed above $1,350 an ounce after holdings in exchange-traded metal climbed to the highest level since May 2013 and the dollar dropped to the lowest against trading partners since 2014. Bullion rose 0.8 percent to $1,352.03 an ounce at 12:55 pm in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Platinum, palladium and silver were also higher.
“Gold has again started the year impressively, up close to 3 percent as the dollar continues to weaken,” Jordan Eliseo, chief economist at Australian Bullion Co. in Sydney, said in an email. Higher levels of demand are being seen across the precious metal spectrum, especially in ETFs, which are seeing significant inflows, he added.
Gold has climbed about
8.5 percent since the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates in December. January is traditionally gold’s strongest month, as consumers in top buyer China snap up metal ahead of the Lunar New Year. Analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd. forecast prices could rise further.
Total known holdings in bullion-backed ETFs climb to 2,254 tons as of Tuesday. Highest since May 2013: data compiled by Bloomberg. Platinum and silver holdings nudged lower and palladium holdings fell 2.1%
Trading on the Comex in New York was 100 percent above the 100-day average for the time of day More than 150,000 lots changed hands by midday Exchange saw record gold volumes last year Volume traded on the London Metal Exchange’s contract jumped 150% to a two-week high on Tuesday
Silver for immediate delivery climbed 1.1 percent to $17.2316 an ounce. Metal up second day. Platinum up 0.7% at $1,014.74/ oz Palladium climbed 0.7% to $1,102.38/oz.