By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold prices slipped on Monday in Asia after recording their biggest weekly gains since 2008.
Gold futures were down by 0.1% at $1,652.50 by 9:34 PM ET (2:34 GMT), after almost reaching the $1,700 mark last week amid fears about the economic impact damage from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asian stock markets, which usually move in directions opposite to gold, also fell today. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to show no signs of abating as the World Health Organization said that there are now 638,146 global COVID-19 cases as of March 29.
Despite the fall today, some analysts believe there are hopes that the yellow metal will live up to its safe haven reputation. “Record number of jobless claims in the U.S. is very positive for gold going forward and expectations of further stimulus should drive prices sharply higher again," said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director of Commtrendz Risk Management Services, in a Bloomberg report.
He was referring to the United States’ announcement of a record 3.28 million jobless claims for the week ended March 21 last week.
In other news, gold market participants also kept a close eye on physical supply as virus-led lockdowns stalled supply chains.
South Africa’s Rand Refinery, the sole gold refiner in Africa, said on Friday that it had stopped shipments of bullion to London because of the lack of commercial flights.
Thiagarajan also agreed that “there is also supply tightness in the near-term that could drive prices higher."