Gold Prices Steady As New COVID-19 Cases Overshadow Vaccine Hopes

On Friday, gold prices remained steady as concerns over recovery of the global economy amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, especially in the US and Europe, have curbed the optimism from vaccine progress.

On MCX (Multi Commodity Exchange of India), gold futures (December 2020) was marginally up by 0.11 percent to Rs 50,658 per 10 grams. In the international market, spot gold was steady at $1,876.92 per ounce but was heading for its worst weekly performance since late-September, declining 3.8 percent so far.

Gold prices in India were also supported by a steady dollar. A stronger dollar, otherwise, makes the precious metal costlier for buyers in the Indian rupee as the country's demand for gold is largely met by imports.

The rupee opened marginally higher at 74.62 per dollar on Friday, against the previous close of 74.65.

The heads of the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank said that while they welcome the encouraging results in trials of a COVID-19 vaccine, the economic outlook remains uncertain.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a seven-month low last week, but the pace of decline has been slower. Lack of additional stimulus from the US government and a surge in the number of infections in the country may further limit the decline in unemployment claims.

Republicans rejected Democrats' renewed negotiations over a multitrillion-dollar coronavirus aid proposal, calling their approach as too expensive.

More than a dozen American states have seen their COVID-19 cases double in the last 14 days, compared with the previous two-week period. The global tally has crossed 52.45 million.