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Gold consolidates within tight ranges ahead of U.S. services sector data

Gold prices consolidated within narrow ranges as improving risk sentiment ahead of the U.S. services sector data offset worries over surging coronavirus cases in some U.S. states.

Spot gold was trading flat at $1,776.54 per ounce by 0830 GMT, having touched a high of $1,789.26 on Wednesday, its highest since October 2012. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2 percent to $1,786.35. The safe-haven metal has gained nearly 17 percent so far this year and is just $13 short of a near 8-year peak recorded on July 1.

Asian shares surged to a 4-month high on bets for cheap liquidity and fiscal stimulus to sustain the global economic recovery, even as increasing coronavirus cases delayed re-openings across the United States.

Market sentiment improved last week as a series of economic data from June surpassed expectations, although the resurgence of coronavirus cases in the United States renewed worries about a swift economic recovery.

Orders for German industrial goods rose by 10.4 percent in May, rebounding from their biggest decline since records began in 1991 the previous month, as demand rose after the government lifted lockdown measures to control the coronavirus.

According to a Reuters tally, 15 U.S. states reported record increases in new cases of COVID-19, in the first four days of July alone.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index for non-manufacturing activity due later in the day is expected to rise to 50.0 in June from 45.4 in the previous month, indicating activity stopped contracting.

On Saturday, the U.S. Navy stated that two U.S. aircraft carriers conducted exercises in the disputed South China Sea, as China also carried out military drills that have been criticized by the Pentagon and neighbouring states.

The greenback against a basket of currencies traded 0.2 percent lower at 96.93, having touched a low of 96.81 on Thursday, its lowest since June 24. The U.S. Treasury yields edged up, with the benchmark 10-year note yield trading at 0.691 percent.

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