Gold tops out at $4,148 and keeps its gains as the S&P 500 drops 4.36%
Spot gold reached $4,148 on Thursday, its highest since 20 October, and was at about $4,087 late in US trading, up 0.64% on the day, Kitco reported, while silver slipped 0.78% to about $51.78. Wall Street had its steepest fall in more than a year and a half, with the S&P 500 down 4.36% to 7,353.73, the Nasdaq down about 5.5% and the Philadelphia semiconductor index down about 12%. Kitco said markets cut the odds of a December Fed hike to roughly 66-69%, from about 83% on Wednesday, and the 10-year Treasury yield fell to about 4.82%, its lowest since early September.
Why it matters for gold:
This was a test of gold as a safe haven in a stock sell-off, and it held up: lower yields and fewer hike bets offset the selling that sometimes hits gold when investors need cash. That does not always happen, so it is worth knowing both patterns. Our guide does gold go up when stocks crash? covers past sell-offs, and the markets board shows gold next to stocks, yields and the dollar.
Source: Kitco