Nov 21 2024: Gold saw its fourth straight session of gains on Thursday, supported by increasing tensions between Russia and Ukraine that bolstered demand for safe-haven assets. However, its recovery from recent lows was curbed by a strong dollar and uncertainty over U.S. interest rate decisions.
Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,656.84 per ounce, while December gold futures climbed 0.3% to $2,659.15 per ounce by 00:00 ET (05:00 GMT).
Rising geopolitical risks drove demand, with Russia lowering its nuclear retaliation threshold in response to the U.S. approving long-range missiles for Ukraine. The resulting escalation heightened fears, pushing investors toward gold.
However, a resilient dollar and climbing Treasury yields limited gold’s pace of gains. Market sentiment shifted as expectations for a December rate cut dropped to 57.3% from 85.7% last week, while the probability of rates remaining steady rose significantly.
Other precious metals also saw modest gains, with platinum futures rising 0.4% to $970.35 per ounce and silver futures increasing 0.7% to $31.225 per ounce. Meanwhile, industrial metals showed mixed trends; copper futures on the LME rose 0.2% to $9,109.50 per ton, while December copper futures fell 0.2% to $4.1442 per pound due to concerns over weak Chinese demand.
