September looms as a risk month for stocks, Yardeni says
Investing.com - Gold prices rose to a more than four-month high on Monday, lifted by hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut this month and signs of a softening dollar.
Spot gold rose 0.6% to $3,468.85 an ounce, their highest level since mid-April. Gold futures for December jumped 0.7% to $3,539.62/oz by 06:06 ET (10:06 GMT). Gold prices were set for the fifth consecutive day of sharp gains, after jumping nearly 5% in August.
In other metal markets, silver prices jumped to a 14-year high.
Wagers of a rate cut in September were bolstered after the latest U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index last week came in largely in line with estimates.
Bets were subsequently boosted that the Fed would priortize supporting a potentially weakening labor market despite concerns over lingering inflationary pressures. According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets are pricing in close to a 90% chance of a 25-basis point cut later this month.
Lower borrowing costs reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as gold, making it more attractive to investors.
Attention is now turning to U.S. jobs data due on Friday. A soft or tepid non-farm payrolls report could strengthen the case for near-term easing, analysts have suggested.
Safe-haven flows into gold were also fueled by trade policy uncertainty. A U.S. appeals court last week rejected many of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, raising questions about the future of duties on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports.
The court kept the tariffs in place until Oct. 14 to allow the Trump administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Investors also remained watchful over signs of political pressure on the U.S. central bank. President Donald Trump last week attempted to dismiss Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing alleged mortgage fraud from 2021.
Cook has rejected Trump’s authority to remove her and has filed a lawsuit challenging the dismissal.
Other precious metals were also upbeat on Monday, with platinum futures rising 2.4% to $1,403.30/oz.
Silver futures jumped 1.8% to $41.458/oz, touching their highest level since August 2024.
Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange were higher. A private survey in China – the world’s largest copper importer – showed on Monday that factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months in August amid easing U.S.-China trade worries
(Scott Kanowsky contributed reporting.)