Gold futures punch through $1 300 as global stocks extend losses

SINGAPORE – Gold futures broke above $1 300/oz, rising to the highest level since November, as global stocks dropped and investors fretted that turmoil in the White House will prevent President Donald Trump from delivering on his legislative agenda.

Futures for delivery in December advanced as much as 1.1% to $1 306.90/oz on the Comex, and traded at $1 298.20 at 11:23 am in New York. The gain came as a gauge of US stocks declined, and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%.

Gold has added about 13% this year as Trump failed to deliver on campaign promises to ramp up US growth by cutting taxes and boosting infrastructure spending.

This week, the White House has been under fire for Trump’s response to white supremacist marches in Charlottesville. Bullion also rose after a terror attack in Barcelona, and as quiescent US inflation calls into question the Federal Reserve’s ability to go on raising interest rates.

"This week’s events may prove to be a defining moment for President Trump, as events in Charlottesville and what seems to be a widening division between the White House and the US business community puts a question mark over the President’s future," Neil MacKinnon, an economist at VTB Capital in London, said in a report on Friday.

Spot gold prices rose 0.2% to $1 291/oz after going as high as $1 300.92.

"As gold breaks through $1 300, the room on the upside will be opened," Richard Fu, an analyst at Amalgamated Metal Trading, in London, said by email. Bullion gained on Friday partly due to the attack in Barcelona, he said.