Constellation Energy and Vistra stock surge after PJM capacity auction results
(Adds analyst comment, detail, updates prices)
* Gold rises more than 2.3% this week
* Platinum rises after hitting 3-week high on Wednesday
* U.S. initial weekly jobless claims data due at 1230 GMT
* Interactive graphic tracking the global spread: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7
in an external browser
By Shreyansi Singh
April 9 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Thursday as investors
hedged risks ahead of a long weekend and a meeting of top oil
producers later in the day aimed at stemming a market slump,
amid improving risk sentiment on hopes that the coronavirus
pandemic is nearing a peak.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.6% to $1,654.94 per ounce by 0719
GMT, having hit a four-week high of $1,671.40 on Tuesday. It has
risen more than 2.3% this week.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.4% to $1,691.70.
Gold is "supported by risk hedging flows ahead of the long
weekend break and event risk tonight," said Jeffrey Halley, a
senior market analyst at OANDA.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and
its allies will meet to decide on oil production cuts in a bid
to support a market hammered by a coronavirus-led demand
collapse. O/R
"Higher oil (prices) could reduce deflation fears and drive
the dollar lower as risk sentiment improves on stocks," said
Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at financial services
firm AxiCorp.
The dollar =USD is down 0.5% this week. USD/
Asian shares rose, tracking gains on Wall Street, and
risk-sensitive currencies climbed on optimism that the
coronavirus pandemic may be peaking. MKTS/GLOB Most markets
will be closed on Friday for the Easter holiday.
Market participants also awaited U.S. initial weekly jobless
claims data due at 1230 GMT.
New York, the U.S. state hardest-hit by the coronavirus,
reported its highest number of deaths in a single day on
Thursday. Confirmed cases exceeded 1.41 million globally and the
death toll crossed 83,400, according to a Reuters tally.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen the
economy with a "big bang" but that the death toll first needed
to be heading down.
Meanwhile, the European Union's disease monitoring agency
said there was no sign that the peak of the region's outbreak
had been reached. In a bid to support economies hammered by the outbreak,
governments and central banks around the world have unleashed
unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus. "Given the unprecedented global fiscal and monetary
stimulus, we maintain a positive view on gold," Standard
Chartered Bank analyst Suki Cooper said in a note, forecasting
prices to average $1,725 an ounce in the second quarter.
Reflecting appetite for bullion, holdings in SPDR Gold Trust
GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund,
continued to rise. GOL/ETF
Palladium XPD= rose 0.3% to $2,181.46 per ounce, while
platinum XPT= gained 0.9% to $735.78 an ounce, having risen to
a three-week peak on Wednesday.
Silver XAG= climbed 0.3% to $15.10 per ounce.