Link copied
By Robin Paxton and Preeti Soni
(Bloomberg) -- Gold was steady as efforts to resume peace talks between the US and Iran stalled and energy flows via the Strait of Hormuz remained choked, two months into a war that’s upended global markets and raised inflation risks.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The Billion-Barrel Hormuz Oil Shock Is About to Crash Demand
Sergey Brin Confronted Gavin Newsom at a Treehouse Party — Then Launched a Political War
Gunman Detained, Trump Evacuated After Shooting at Press Dinner
Bullion traded in a narrow range above $4,700 an ounce on Monday, after Axios reported that Iran had given the US a new proposal to reopen the strait while postponing negotiations on its nuclear program. Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his top envoys to Pakistan, while Tehran said it won’t negotiate as long as it’s being threatened.
“Unless we see a more durable reopening or a credible path toward a peace deal, any renewed upside in gold is likely to prove temporary, with prices continuing to trade in a range,” said Dilin Wu, a research strategist at Pepperstone Group Ltd.
Oil rose on Monday, with Hormuz virtually impassable due to blockades set up by both countries. The energy-supply shock has added to inflation risks, raising the likelihood that central banks will keep interest rates steady for longer or even hike them, a headwind for non-yielding bullion. The precious metal has lost about 10% since the conflict began at the end of February.
Gold is “in technical no-man’s-land,” Nicky Shiels, head of research and metals strategy at MKS PAMP SA, said in a note. “Conviction is thin, larger allocations remain sidelined, physical is mixed, and ‘lost’ is probably the most honest word for where the market is right now.”
In the Middle East, the effective closure of Hormuz has disrupted around a fifth of the world’s oil flows. A fragile ceasefire largely held over the weekend, but Trump told his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, to skip their trip to Pakistan, which is mediating talks. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his nation won’t enter “imposed negotiations under threats or blockade.”
“The ‘ceasefire-on/ceasefire-off’ headline roulette has conditioned the market,” Shiels said. “With gold now behaving as a risk asset — negatively correlated with oil, loosely positively correlated with equities but a poor proxy for both — there’s little appetite to chase it sub-$5,000.”
Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund, meanwhile, sold about 22 tons of gold in the first quarter of the year, after a record-breaking rally that peaked in late January pushed the sovereign wealth fund’s bullion allocation to its maximum threshold. The sales — worth more than $3 billion at current prices — mark the first time that the fund has sold down its reserves since it started buying gold in 2012.
Spot gold was little changed at $4,709.56 an ounce as of 9:34 a.m. in London. Silver lost 0.3% to $75.5278 an ounce. Platinum advanced, while palladium was steady. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.2%.
--With assistance from Jack Ryan.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek