Gold Rising as US Stimulus Tilts Over Vaccine Hopes

Gold prices rose slightly on Monday, December 7, as weak US job data supported hopes for more fiscal stimulus, although optimism about the deployment of vaccines to prevent the Coronavirus curbed the gains.

The spot price of gold rose 0.2% to $ 1841.93 an ounce by 05:54 GMT, while US gold futures advanced 0.2% to $ 1844.20.

Talks of a fresh package to mitigate the fallout from the pandemic gathered momentum on Friday, as lawmakers from both parties were working on finalizing a $908 billion bill. Gold is considered a hedge against inflation that may result from the huge stimulus, but the metal’s gains were limited in light of Britain’s preparations to become the first country to use the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine for Covid-19 this week.

Silver fell 0.1% to $ 24.15 an ounce, platinum fell 1% to $ 1044, while palladium rose 0.7% to $ 2,359.05 an ounce.