Gold Edges Up

Gold prices rose on Wednesday as a modest drop in US bond yields gave support against rising expectations of faster-than-expected US interest rate hikes. This pushed the dollar to a multi-month high.

By 0746 GMT, spot gold had risen 0.3 percent to $1,739.36 per ounce, recovering from a one-month low set on Tuesday.

Gold futures in the United States rose 0.2 percent to $1,741.00. Right now, there isn’t much of a bullish case for gold, according to OCBC Bank economist Howie Lee.

Though the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield in the United States fell marginally, it remained above 1.5 percent, a level that was last seen in June.

Higher returns increase the potential costs of storing non-interest-bearing bullion. On Tuesday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard stated that strong inflation might necessitate more aggressive central bank action. It includes two interest rate hikes in 2022.

SPDR Gold

In congressional testimony, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that the US economy is still far from reaching full employment, one of the central bank’s criteria for raising interest rates.

Gold could touch $1,700 this week after breaking through support at $1,740, according to Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific at OANDA. He added that some risk-hedging was helping bullion on the day. The holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to 990.03 tonnes on Tuesday, indicating a shift in mood.

The price of silver declined 0.8 percent to $22.26 per ounce.

Platinum remained unchanged at $967.38, while palladium rose 1.5 percent to $1,903.90

Copper

The contentious attempt to establish a vast copper mine in southern Gila County took another blow this week. The release of an opinion survey indicating that roughly 74% of Arizonans polled oppose moving forward with the mine permit.

Even after hearing arguments on all sides, the poll revealed that most people opposed the mine. It included 87 percent of Democrats, 81% of independents, and 56% of Republicans.

Resolution Copper has already spent about $2 billion seeking permits for a mine that could eventually supply a fourth of the country’s yearly demand for copper, a vital component for electric cars, solar cells, computers, and many other enterprises. On the other hand, the mine would eventually devastate a picturesque landscape of granite rocks sacred to the Apache and popular with rock climbers, hikers, and campers. 

The mine would be operated by robots deep down. However, it would eventually collapse the terrain into a crater nearly two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep. The mine would also generate over 1.4 billion tons of garbage, bury nearby streams, and possibly poison groundwater. A land transaction and an environmental impact statement have received final approval from the Trump administration.