By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Gold had one of its better days for September as the month ended. But the gain was too little, too late to be meaningful for the month or even the quarter.
U.S. gold futures’ most active contract, December, settled down in Thursday’s trade at $1,757 per ounce on New York’s Comex, up $34.10, or 2%.
It finished September down 3.4%, while losing 0.8% for the third quarter.
The latest pop in gold came despite an uptick in U.S. Treasury yields.
Traders said the rise could be on overdue concerns about inflation as oil prices were projected to get to $90 per barrel from current rates just below $80.
Also somewhat helping gold’s safe-haven status was the debacle in the Senate where Democrats were trying to secure a deal with rival Republicans to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avert a government shutdown and what could be the country’s first-ever debt default.
“This is also happening because the gold market may have gotten a bit too short here,” said Ed Moya, analyst at online trading platform OANDA.
“If this gold rebound continues, sellers will likely emerge ahead of the $1,780 level. If the energy crunch gets worse, that could save gold from further downward pressure in the short-term. The economic recoveries in Europe and Asia are vulnerable here and fears of $90 oil could trigger massive reversal in interest rate hike expectations.”