Gold and platinum shares the only bright lights on a quietly weakening JSE

The JSE was weaker in quiet trade at midday with only the platinum and gold indices in positive territory as precious metal prices rose.

After weakening more than 1% in early trade, the all share was off 0.77% at 50,629.80 points just after midday.

Gold rises as dollar retreats, with all eyes trained on Fed

LONDON — Gold rose on Tuesday as a retreat in the dollar sparked a rebound after the previous day’s 1% slide, but moves were muted as traders awaited the outcome of this week’s US Federal Reserve policy meeting.

 
Gold has fallen 10% this year, largely on expectations that the Fed is set to hike rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Rising rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Geopolitical Tension Lifts Gold

SINGAPORE — Gold added to overnight gains on Wednesday on a softer dollar and heightened tension after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane, but the rally was capped on the expectation of a US rate hike in December.

 

Turkey shot down the Russian jet near the Syrian border on Tuesday, saying the plane had violated its air space, in one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) member country and Russia for half a century. US President Barack Obama and French President François Hollande, meeting in Washington, urged against an escalation, while Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance stood in solidarity with Turkey. The tension triggered a sell-off in equities and the dollar, while boosting the safe-haven yen, gold and government debt.

Gold rose as markets recover from Paris attacks

Gold briefly rose on Monday to its highest in a week at $1,097.90 an ounce after the attacks prompted a flight to safety among investors, but it failed to maintain those gains.

 

The metal is now coming under pressure from expectations that the US Federal Reserve is set to raise US interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade, lifting the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold while boosting the dollar.