Gold futures are soaring to kick off the trading week, buoyed by economic weakness in the eurozone and concern that
December gold futures surged $17.00, or 1.12%, to $1,532.10 per ounce at 18:56 GMT on Monday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Last week, gold recorded a 1% weekly gain, lifting its
Silver, the sister commodity to gold, is also rallying to start the trading week. November silver futures spiked $0.885, or 4.95%, to $18.735 per ounce. The white metal enjoyed a 2% weekly jump last week and it is up more than 20% so far this year.
The eurozone IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for September slumped to an 83-month low of 45.6, down from 47 in August. This is lower than the market forecast of 47.3. The flash eurozone services PMI declined to an
The German manufacturing PMI tumbled from 43.5 in August to 41.4 in September.
Anything below 50 indicates a contraction.
The disappointing economic data comes a week after the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates deeper into subzero territory and announced that it would restart quantitative easing (QE). ECB President Mario Draghi has requested eurozone countries to start employing fiscal measures to ensure their respective economies continue to grow, which could be difficult because most of these states are already running budget deficits. Germany is one of the few to run a budget surplus.
Shortly after the
Additional protests in Hong Kong, heightened
Investors are also keeping an eye out for signals that the Fed will cut rates again this year. According to the CME Group FedWatch tool, most of the market is penciling in a
In other metal markets, October copper futures edged up $0.0075, or 0.29%, to $2.615 per pound. November palladium futures added $0.30, or 0.02%, to $1,625.30 per ounce. November platinum futures soared $16.50, or 1.75%, to $959.10 an ounce.
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