Gold advances to November 2012 peak, dollar modestly down

Gold futures rose in Asian trade to November 2012 highs as the dollar index backed off March 26 highs, ahead of US labor and consumer data. 

As of 04:04 GMT, gold futures due in June rose 0.21% to $1,710 an ounce, while the dollar index shed 0.18% to 100.56. 

From the US, the JOLTS job openings are expected to fall to 6.55 million in February, while consumer credit is expected up to $13.9 billion in February. 

US President Donald Trump warned of a painful period in American, after extending social distancing guidelines until the end of April. 

Tomorrow the Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the March 15 meeting, at which policymakers cut rates to zero in a drastic measure to prop up the economy in the time of Covid 19. 

Fed Governor Jerome Powell said back then the fallout from the virus will be felt in the near and medium terms, with exports falling due to global economic slowdown. 

Powell said the Fed is coordinating with other central banks in Canada, Japan, and England, will all central banks deciding to cut rates and flood the market with liquidity to prop it up.

On the fiscal side, US Congress passed a $2.2 trillion economic rescue bill, with President Donald Trump signing it into action to help most impacted companies and families. 

Otherwise, Japan's PM Shinzo Abe announced a state of emergency in Tokyo and Osaka and five other cities for a month, with the government readying to launch a $990 billion stimulus package to bolster the economy. 

Japan's Olympic games were delayed to July 2021 due to the Covid 19 pandemic, while reports showed receding deaths in New York, Italy, France, and Spain, but experts warned it's too early to say the pandemic reached a peak. 

The International Monetary Fund warned from a deep global recession this year, possibly passing that of the 2008 financial crisis. 

On another note, Russia's central bank, the world's number 1 purchaser of gold, said it'll stop buying it in April, while predicating potential future purchases on the state of the markets.