Gold Futures Hold Gains Amid Growing Pressure

 | Oct 20, 2016 11:08AM ET

Gold prices hit successive gains and climbed to a two-week high as the U.S. dollar remained moderately challenged by the upcoming US presidential debate and after the missed U.S. housing-sector data. The yellow metal extended its gains after the remarkable recovery of China’s economy, one of the top gold enthusiasts worldwide.

The decline in housing starts put pressure on the highly expected rate increase as the Federal Reserve seeks a more stable economic recovery. Although the chance of an adjustment in the benchmark rate still stands at approximately 70 percent, the dollar came a tad lower in the late trading session on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the upcoming presidential debates also made most of the investors extra cautious as the presidential aspirants disclose their respective economic plans. Economic and political serve as the main factors that the U.S. central bank considers before imposing interest rate policy modification. On the other hand, the current reports on US employment and inflation raise the chance of a December rate hike.

As the interest rate gets higher, the value of the currency moves up as well. The inverse relationship of the yellow metal and the US currency explains that when the dollar goes down, the demand for the commodities such as gold increases and an increase of demand will drive the prices higher. Also, weak currency tends to make the investors interested in alternative investment sources and the yellow metal becomes their primary choice.

Gold Recap

The graph below shows the price movement of gold this week. The yellow metal started at short bounce back at 1252.58 (1) and as the bullish tone built up, it touched 1273.02 (2) before the market closed on Wednesday. During the middle of the week, the candles went beyond the upper barrier of the band (3) and as expected a significant price movement occurred. From an apparent offensive ground, the metal even ticked higher as it moved from 1264.12 to 1270.94 (4).