- Gold is struggling to find demand as the rise in risks intensifies.
- Wall Street skyrockets after opening into positive territory.
- The general weakness of the USD helps XAU / USD to limit its losses.
The troy ounce of the precious metal reached its highest level since December 2012 at $ 1,765 Monday, but fell sharply during US trading hours. At the time of writing, the XAU / USD pair was trading at $ 1,730, losing 0.7% on a daily basis.
Shelter workers lose interest Monday
The rally in risks at the start of the week seems to be weighing on demand for a safe haven and hurting gold. The positive results announced by Moderna, one of the leading biotechnology companies working on a coronavirus vaccine, on its first human trials seem to be the main catalyst for improving market sentiment.
Reflecting the risky atmosphere of the market, the main Wall Street indices post decisive gains. Right now, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 3.75% as the best actor.
Meanwhile, the greenback remains on the back foot as investors focus on the main risk-sensitive currencies such as EUR, GBP and AUD. The US dollar index (DXY), which gained more than 1% last week, is now down 0.7% on the day to 99.66.
Although the weak USD is helping XAU / USD limit its decline for the time being, the pair could remain under pressure if Asian stocks postponed the rally for the second consecutive day.
FOMC President Jerome Powell will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.