Dubai: Gold ticks higher as Covid Omicron variant woes boost appeal

Gold prices edged higher on Monday morning as concerns over the impact of the possibly vaccine-resistant Omicron coronavirus variant supported the precious metal's safe-haven appeal.

Spot gold rose 0.1 per cent to $1,793.72 per ounce. In the UAE, 24K rose Dh0.25 per gram to Dh217.25 at the opening of the markets. Among the other variants, 22K opened at Dh204.0, 21K at Dh194.75 and 18K at Dh166.75.

Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for the Asia Pacific at Oanda, said Friday should have been gold’s safe-haven day in the sun, and for a short time it wise, rising $23 an ounce to $1,815.50 at one stage.

“However, when the sessions ended, gold had slumped back to a $1,793.0 close with a minuscule gain. Like Bitcoin, gold suffered over the course of Friday even as US yields and the greenback sank. One reason is likely the very poor performance of platinum and palladium on Friday, the other is likely to be cross-margining stop-outs with investors liquidating gold positions to cover losses in equities for instance,” he said.

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“Whatever the underlying dynamics, the price action is negative, gold rising just 0.10 per cent to $1,794.80 this morning, with the recovery rally leaving it behind. That suggests that the downside is the path of least resistance for gold, and it is a sell on rallies this week,” he added.

According to Oanda analysis, gold will have resistance at $1,800 and $1,815 to start the week.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai