By Alex Ho
Investing.com - Gold prices traded higher on Wednesday in Asia amid continuing worries about the outbreak of coronavirus.
Gold Futures gained 0.5% to $1,563.05 by 1:30 AM ET (05:30 GMT).
On Tuesday, the new virus claimed its first life in Hong Kong, while death toll across China increased to near 500.
Concerns about the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak were cited as tailwinds for the yellow metal today. Steve Cochrane, chief Asia Pacific economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a note that the crisis could reduce China’s first quarter GDP by 1.2%, and around 0.3% for the entire year. A Chinese government economist said earlier that the country’s first-quarter economic growth may drop to 5%.
Gains of the safe-haven metal were limited however as risk appetite remained strong for equities by China’s efforts to mitigate the economic impact caused by the virus. Beijing has injected around 1.7 trillion yuan ($243 billion) into the financial system so far, while some reports suggested that the central bank might release more supportive policies in the short future.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said it is confident the virus threat could be contained, noting that 99% of the cases are in China so far.