Gold prices climbed back above the $5,000 per ounce mark on Monday as investors cautiously returned to the market following a sharp and unsettling correction across precious metals.
The rebound comes after last week’s steep selloff wiped out a chunk of gains from gold’s record-breaking rally. During early Asian trading, bullion rose as much as 1.7 percent, recovering nearly half of the losses suffered after sliding from its late January peak. As at the time of this report, gold was trading around $5,009 per ounce after briefly dipping below $4,768 last week.
The News Chronicle understands that renewed buying interest is being supported by resilient central bank demand, particularly from China. Data released over the weekend revealed the People’s Bank of China continued its gold purchases for the fifteenth consecutive month, indicating a persistent effort to diversify reserves without destabilising global prices.
Although it remains well below its recent highs after enduring larger losses than gold during the correction, silver also bounced sharply, jumping almost 6% to trade above $82 an ounce. While palladium climbed a little bit, platinum remained essentially unchanged.
Driven by geopolitical tensions, inflationary concerns, and lingering questions about US monetary policy independence, the recent pullback followed a significant surge. Gold had broken $5,400 per ounce on January 29, and silver briefly peaked at $120 before speculative positioning disintegrated.
Market focus is now on the approaching US employment and inflation statistics, which might define assumptions on interest rates and affect the following movement in precious metals.
