Gold and silver both saw light selling last week before running higher on Friday in response to corona virus safe haven demand as stocks dropped. In the week to January 21 gold's net-long was reduced by 3k lots to 259k lots, some 11% below the record peak last September.
Today in early trading gold extended its Friday rally to hit $1588/oz before drifting lower. The lack of a firm response similar to the one on January 8, when the U.S.-Iran war threat briefly took it above $1600/oz, point towards a market in general risk off mode. Something that in some cases can also negatively impact a safe-haven asset like gold, especially given the current elevated position and worries about demand from China.
The platinum long reached a new record at 53k lots, some 23% above the previous record from August 2016 when the price was trading at $1150/oz. Just before the longest price slump since 2014 the copper long had been kept unchanged at 7.2k lots.
Just like crude oil, copper and iron ore, all pro-cyclical commodities, have taken a beating from a renewed and currently serious risk to global economic growth. While iron ore dropped 6% overnight in Asia HG Copper lost another 1.8% with HGH0 once again testing the November and December lows.