Gold price steady at $1,300

Gold held steady on Thursday after touching record highs for the fifth consecutive session, and silver hit a 2- year peak, as economic uncertainties boosted investor appeal for these safe-haven assets.

Dealers and analysts expect gold to break through the psychologically important $1,300 level soon as market sentiment rides high on worries about the health of the economy, even though the market has been overbought.

Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent at $1,291.80 an ounce by 0614 GMT, below the fresh all-time high of $1,296.1.

Silver reached a 2- year high of $21.21 earlier in the day, before easing to $21.10.

“The $1,300 level is definitely within reach in the next couple of days if uncertainties persist, which they may well do,” said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia.

The latest data out of the U.S. shows a housing market that continues to struggle. Demand for home loans fell for a third straight week last week while prices for single-family homes retreated further in July as the market struggles for balance with less government support.

The U.S. is due to release the weekly initial jobless claims, as well as existing home sales and lead indicators later in the day, which might provide further evidence of a sluggish recovery.

“If those numbers don’t come out as expected or are worse than expected, the dollar may suffer,” said Heathcote.

The U.S. dollar was on the defensive on Thursday as speculation that the Federal Reserve will soon start printing more money drove down Treasury yields and kept the greenback pinned near a five-month low on the euro.

Technical analysis showed that spot gold would climb to $1,310 an ounce as it moves away from a lower channel to an identical upper channel, according to Wang Tao, a Reuters analyst.

Source: Reuters