Gold prices decline slightly

Gold prices have declined, but despite fears associated with the coronavirus pandemic, they still exceed $1,800 an ounce, Report informs referring to the auction data.

The price of February gold futures on the New York Comex stock exchange fell 0.15%, or $2.75, to $1,802.15 per troy ounce.

The prices declined after the growth during the previous two days, in total during this time gold rose in price by 2.3%.

Another wave of concerns is associated with omicron variant, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines and spreads faster. The increase in infection cases may lead to new quarantine restrictions in a number of countries, which is negative for the global economic outlook.

As for the future prospects, inflation, the surge of which has already acquired a global character, is also positive for the prices under consideration, since gold traditionally also acts as an inflationary hedge. Thus, in the US, annual inflation in November accelerated to a record 6.8% since 1982, and moreover, the Federal Reserve raised its forecasts for the growth rate of consumer prices in the country for the next year.