Gold gains on weaker dollar as Brexit deal nears

Singapore — Gold advanced as the dollar held a decline and investors await details of a post-Brexit trade accord.

The UK and the EU are on the verge of unveiling a historic agreement, with negotiators putting the finishing touches to a compromise on fishing rights and an announcement is expected on Thursday. The accord will formally complete Britain’s separation from the bloc more than four years after the 2016 referendum.

“Gold prices are benefiting from a Brexit trade deal breakthrough that paved the way for a weaker dollar,” said Oanda senior market analyst Edward Moya. The metal could see further gains if the US stimulus impasse is resolved, and investors are also watching the Georgia senate races, where a blue wave could still happen and “do wonders” for gold prices, he said.

Investors are looking past President Donald Trump’s demand for changes to US pandemic relief, expecting that stimulus spending will come sooner or later. House speaker Nancy Pelosi seized on Trump’s call for larger individual cheques and said the House would try to pass this additional measure during a pro forma session on Thursday. A gauge of the dollar retreated 0.1% after a 0.4% decline on Wednesday.

On the virus front, the UK reported nearly 40,000 new cases on Wednesday, the most since the pandemic began, and the government sent more areas of the country into its toughest level of restrictions.

A vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech was found to be more than 50% effective in a trial, though researchers delayed releasing more information at the request of the company.

Spot gold advanced 0.3% to $1,877.71 an ounce at 2.03am GMT, up 24% this year to head for the biggest annual gain in a decade. Silver climbed 1.2%, while platinum rose 0.5% and palladium was little changed.

Bloomberg