Last week's news agenda was mostly positive. Published positive macroeconomic data strengthened investors' confidence in the prospects of economic activity renewal. The release of data on high profits of American companies improved risk sentiment, and top management is optimistic about the prospects for business (and the growth of the American economy).
Investors mostly played down news about failures with various vaccines, still elevated levels of coronavirus and rising geopolitical tensions.
The World Gold Council has published a review of the precious metals market for the first quarter of 2021. It says that a strong increase in interest rates of US government bonds and the strengthening of the dollar has put pressure on the value of gold.
Last week, gold prices recovered to resistance levels of $1,775 per troy ounce amid a slowdown in US Treasury bond yields. The dollar also weakened, supporting the precious metals. There is still a downtrend in the longer term.
On the one hand, it causes the outflow of private investors from the gold ETFs, but on the other hand, the recovery of economic activity and the low price of the asset has allowed long-term investors to increase their positions in gold.
In January, India recorded a noticeable increase in retail demand, and in February, the further strengthening of demand was facilitated by a decrease in customs duties on gold imports, as well as an increase in the exchange rate of the Indian rupee.
China, which is the second largest consumer of gold in the world, also saw increased demand for the precious metal in January and February during the local New Year celebrations. Gold jewelery sales rose 161% in value terms during the holiday season. China's gold-backed ETFs also recorded capital inflows, unlike other regions.
Last week, WTI oil rose significantly in price and reached the resistance level of $63. At the end of the week, oil rose by almost 5%.
This growth was driven by a number of optimistic factors that improve expectations for the supply and demand of raw materials in the market. The International Energy Agency has improved its forecast for growth in oil demand, and stocks in the United States fell sharply.
News of 18.3% GDP growth in China supported hopes of a recovery in oil demand.
Bitcoin has been at its peak all week and was hoping to reach a new all-time high soon, however, early on Sunday morning, bitcoin experienced a sharp collapse of $10,000, triggering a liquidation worth more than $10 billion in the last 24 hours.
Possible reasons for the price decrease:
Next week promises to be full of statistics and news.
In the US, economic data will remain in the spotlight as investors await further signals on the strength of the economy, with the latest reports on home sales and manufacturing activity taking the lead.
In Europe, the market is following the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting to get further guidance on interest rates and stimulus.
Also on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada will publish interest rate data and a statement on monetary policy will be made.
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