By Gina Lee
Investing.com -– Gold prices in Asia were up on Thursday as investors prepared for continuing economic turbulence.
Gold futures were up by 0.41% at $1,598 by 10:21 PM ET (3:21 AM GMT), recouping its losses from yesterday’s session.
Gold prices' gains today came as Asian equities traded mostly in the red. Australia’s ASX 200 slid 2.2% in morning trade, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost more than 1%.
The yellow metal is regaining its reputation as a safe haven amidst the unending economic turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Health Organization said that global cases exceeded 800,000 as of April 1, and U.S. President Trump warned of a “painful two weeks” for Americans yesterday.
“The unprecedented macroeconomic backdrop has been drawing more investors to real assets like gold. Central banks across the world are loosening their balance sheets and getting ready for further easing to mitigate the impact of the outbreak,” Soni Kumari, commodity strategist at ANZ, told CNBC.
“We therefore see real interest rates staying in the deep negative territory for a while ... Such a backdrop remains favorable for gold investments,” she added.