Gold prices gain after HSBC China flash PMI, but copper lags

Investing.com - Gold prices gained in Asia on Wednesday after better than expected HSBC China flash PMI data, but copper lagged as the gains were seen from domestic demand instead of exports.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery rose 1.02% to trade at $1,209.50 a troy ounce.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery ticked up 2.78% to trade at $16.685 a troy ounce.

Meanwhile, copper for May delivery fell 0.60% to trade at $2.622 a pound.

The HSBC China February flash manufacturing PMI jumped to 50.1, well above the expected drop to 49.5 and up from January's final 49.7.

"Domestic demand firmed while new export orders contracted for the first time since April 2014. Both input and output prices remain in contraction," said Qu Hongbin, Chief Economist, China and joint head of Asian economic research at HSBC.

"Today's data point to a marginal improvement in the Chinese manufacturing sector going into the Chinese New Year period in February. However, domestic economic activity is likely to remain sluggish and external demand looks uncertain. We believe more policy easing is still warranted at the current stage to support growth."


Overnight, gold fell to the lowest level in seven weeks on Tuesday, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sounded more hawkish than expected in her prepared remarks to the Senate Banking Committee.

In prepared remarks released before her testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Fed Chair Yellen said that the central bank will change its forward guidance in an effort to increase the Fed's flexibility and mute any potential market reaction before beginning to hike rates.

According to Yellen, the central bank will first drop the word "patient" from its statement. However, that does not mean that a rate hike will automatically follow in a couple of meetings.

Market players had previously thought dropping the "patient" reference meant that the Fed will start raising rates in a couple of meetings.

Instead, the Fed will consider interest rate hikes "on a meeting by meeting basis," if economic conditions continue to improve, as the Committee anticipates.

Gold has been under pressure in recent weeks amid ongoing expectations for the Federal Reserve to start raising interest rates later this year.

Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise.

A stronger U.S. dollar usually weighs on gold, as it dampens the metal's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Meanwhile, euro zone finance ministers approved Greece's list of reform proposals earlier in the day, paving the way for a four-month extension of the debt-strapped country's bailout program.

The package of measures includes taxation and public spending reforms and consolidating pension funds to reduce costs. Athens also pledged not to unwind state privatization programs and to stick to budget targets.

Greece’s current €240 billion bailout was scheduled to expire on February 28.