Gold climbed for a fifth day, the longest rally of the year, amid growing demand the metal following the biggest price slump in three decades. Oil rose and energy and raw-material producers led U.S. stocks higher.
Gold for immediate delivery rose 1.6% to $1,425.60 an ounce as of 4 p.m. in New York. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.5% after slumping 2.1% last week, its worst drop since November. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields lost one basis points to 1.69%. Italy’s note yields decreased as the country elected a president and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.2%. The yen gained for the first time in five days after failing to weaken through 100 per dollar, a level last reached four years ago.
Gold has rebounded after reaching a more than two-year low on April 15. The metal entered a bear market this month amid decreased demand for a hedge against deflation and concern struggling European nations will sell gold to raise cash. Data from the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the the U.S. Mint showed demand for gold has surged following the biggest price slump in three decades.
“Strong demand for physical gold is a major factor working to lift gold prices up from last week’s lows and beginning to suggest a market bottom is in place,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc., a precious-metal refiner and research company in Montreal, said in a report.
Gold futures for June delivery jumped 1.8% to close at $1,421.20, the highest settlement since April 15.
Physical Demand
The volume for the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s benchmark cash contract today exceeded 43,000 kilograms (43 metric tons) for the first time, according to data on the bourse’s website. The U.S. Mint has sold 167,500 ounces of gold coins in April, compared with 62,000 ounces in all of March, data on the Mint’s website showed.
The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities added 0.3% after falling 7.3% the past three weeks. Oil rose 0.9% to $88.76 a barrel in New York. Copper futures for delivery in July lost 0.6% to $3.144 a pound on the Comex in New York. Last week, the price slumped 5.6%, entering a bear market.
Thirty-year U.S. bond rates were little changed at 2.88%, while two-year Treasury yields fell less than one basis point to 0.23%. The U.S. will sell $35 billion in two- year debt tomorrow, the first of three auctions this week totaling $99 billion.
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