Gold prices retreated on Thursday as investors took profits following a more than 4% surge in the previous session, although RHB Research maintained its long position after the precious metal broke above the key US$4,500 level.
Spot gold fell 0.7% to US$4,487.63 per ounce by 0604 GMT after earlier reaching US$4,525.79, its highest since June 2. US gold futures were little changed at US$4,545.60.
The pullback came after the US Treasury announced it would double liquidity-support buyback operations for longer-dated notes and bonds, sending Treasury yields lower and weighing on the US dollar, which hovered near a three-month low.
Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive, said the sharp rally had left markets needing to digest the move.
“There was obviously a huge rally (in gold), and there’s going to be a degree of digestion in markets after a big move like that,” he said.
RHB Research said COMEX Gold surged US$123.50 on Wednesday to close at US$4,511.30 after touching US$4,548.60. The research house said the break above US$4,500 leaves the bulls eyeing US$4,650, with US$4,300 seen as immediate support if profit-taking deepens.
RHB retained its long position initiated at US$4,273.30, with a stop-loss at US$4,300. It sees further resistance at US$4,900 if gold breaks above US$4,650.
Meanwhile, Marex analyst Edward Meir said growing concerns over US borrowing, debt and fiscal stability remained bullish for gold.
