April 13 (Reuters) - Gold prices were little changed on
Monday but held near a one-month high scaled last week as
mounting worries about the global economic outlook due to the
novel coronavirus outbreak, and the U.S. Federal Reserve's
stimulus measures kept bullion elevated.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= eased 0.1% to $1,686.82 per ounce by 0039
GMT, having touched its highest since March 9 on Friday. U.S.
gold futures GCv1 fell 0.7% to $1,739.90.
* Oil prices and U.S. stock futures dipped in early trade as
a landmark agreement by OPEC and its allies to slash output by a
record amount failed to give investors any cause for lasting
optimism about the economic outlook. MKTS/GLOB
* The Fed on Thursday announced a broad, $2.3 trillion
effort to bolster local governments and small and mid-sized
businesses, the latest in an expanding suite of programmes meant
to keep the U.S. economy intact as the country battles the
coronavirus pandemic. * A staggering 16.8 million Americans have filed for
unemployment benefits in the last three weeks, with weekly new
claims topping 6 million for the second straight time as the
outbreak relentlessly savages the economy, data showed on
Thursday. * Americans spent a glum Easter Sunday largely confined to
their homes by the still-raging pandemic as the U.S. death toll
neared 22,000, with more than half a million confirmed cases
nationwide. * Japan's wholesale prices marked the first annual decline
in five months in March, suggesting that slumping global demand
for oil and raw material due to the pandemic will weigh on
inflation in coming months. * European Union finance ministers agreed on Thursday on
half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their
coronavirus-battered economies but left open the question of how
to finance recovery in the bloc headed for a steep recession.
* Major physical bullion hubs saw activity dwindle last week
due to coronavirus-led restrictions, with strained supply chains
cut off from soaring safe-haven demand in some regions. GOL/AS
* SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.56% to 994.19
tonnes on Thursday. GOL/ETF
* Speculators increased their bullish positions on COMEX
gold and cut them in silver contracts in the week to April 7,
the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on
Friday. CFTC/
* Palladium XPD= rose 2.4% to $2,224.02 per ounce and
silver XAG= gained 0.5% to $15.40, while platinum XPT= eased
0.3% to $745.74.