Gold prices add over $10, head for quarterly gains

Gold prices advanced today, Dec. 27, amid a decline in the US dollar as China continues to ease its zero-COVID regime and as markets absorb the US data issued late last week, which indicated a slowdown in consumer spending.

Gold futures for February delivery gained 0.62% to $1,815.30 an ounce at 10:34 am Makkah time, with spot prices also up 0.49% to $1,806.93 per ounce.

Likewise, silver futures for March delivery jumped 2.17% to $24.44 an ounce, in tandem with a 0.24% hike in the spot price of platinum to hit $1,029.45 per ounce.

The spot price of palladium reached $1,730.75 an ounce, after rising 0.24%.

Prices of the yellow metal are heading towards recording quarterly gains of more than 8%, lifted by a weakening US dollar amid hopes that the Federal Reserve will slow down the pace of tightening monetary policy.

Along the same lines, China will not subject inbound travelers to quarantine from Jan. 8, 2023, putting the country on track to emerge from global isolation under a zero-COVID policy that battered the world’s second-largest economy.