Gold gained ground after US inflation numbers came in higher than expected for October.
The core personal consumption expenditure price index rose 0.3% month over month and 2.8% year over year, which ANZ analysts Kishti Sen, Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes say reinforces expectations that the US Federal Reserve will adopt a measured approach to lower interest rates.
Gold, which is viewed as a hedge against inflation, added about 1% on Wednesday (27 November) to advance to US$2,665 ($4,099) an ounce. It edged back a bit early in Australia’s Thursday (28 November) morning to around US$2,645.
While US markets closed lower on Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 opened Thursday 41.90 points, or 0.5%, higher at 8,448.60 points at 10.31am AEDT.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.51% and is roughly 0.16% off of its 52-week high.
Gold miner Vault Minerals (ASX:VAU) advanced 3.03% to $0.34, while aluminium heavyweight Alcoa (ASX:AAI) found itself leading the bottom five lower with a 3.03% drop to $70.79 in early trade.
Ten of the 11 sectors climbed, led by health care with a 0.61% gain followed by the financial sector, which rose 0.49% and materials, which added 0.35%. Energy was the outlier, edging back marginally.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & Unsplash
