By Alex Ho
Investing.com - Gold prices inched down on Monday in Asia after jumping past the $1,700 per ounce level earlier in the day.
Gold Futures for April delivery were down 0.2% to 1,669.00 by 1:10 AM ET (05:10 GMT). It traded as high as $1,703.90 earlier in the day as a global rush into safe havens intensified.
Turmoil in the oil markets sent global stocks down today, while the spread of the coronavirus also put pressure on riskier assets. Asian markets traded in a sea of red in the morning, with Australian stocks down more than 7% at one point.
Meanwhile, the yellow metal, which surged 18% so far in 2019, rose earlier in the day before giving back some of its gains.
Global health crisis and rate cuts by central banks were cited as tailwind for gold.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced an emergency rate cut last week, while traders await this week’s scheduled policy meeting of the European Central Bank.
“There’s a clear rush to safe-haven assets at the moment and gold’s a major beneficiary,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in a Bloomberg report. Markets are concerned that “we could see a more ugly situation before things get better, which of course is good news for gold,” he said.