Gold drew dip buyers Monday as the Middle East conflict escalated over the weekend, recovering from a jobs-driven selloff. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $2,672.
Gold drew buyers on the dip Monday as the Middle East conflict escalated over the weekend. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $2,672 an ounce after opening near $2,640, recovering from Friday's 1.2% slide that followed a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report.
The jobs data initially pushed the dollar higher and Treasury yields up, weighing on gold. The geopolitical risk premium reasserted itself by the Asian open, traders said. Safe-haven flows into bullion, the Swiss franc and U.S. Treasuries accelerated after Israel's military said it had struck Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs and Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned of further retaliation.
Gold has gained roughly 25% this year, supported by central-bank purchases, Fed rate-cut expectations and the conflict in the Middle East. The metal's 14-day relative strength index, which touched 78 in late September, pulled back to 65 after Friday's selloff, leaving room for further buying without entering overbought territory.
ETF inflows have picked up. Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed ETF, SPDR Gold Trust, rose 3.2 tonnes on Friday, the biggest single-day addition in two weeks. COMEX gold net long positions held by money managers stood at 287,000 contracts in the week to Oct. 1, near the highest since early 2020, CFTC data showed.
The next catalyst is Wednesday's release of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes, which could clarify the pace of rate cuts. Lower rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.
Prepared with AlphaScala editorial tooling from the source reporting linked above. Indexable analysis may include a cited Alpha Score value. Publishing checks screen each story before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.