Gold rises on China’s Covid shift, signs of cooler U.S. inflation

Gold rose – trading above $1,800 an ounce – as China swept away more of its Covid-19 controls, piling pressure on the dollar as risk assets gained.

China will no longer subject inbound travelers to quarantine from early January, adding to the rapid rollback of strict pandemic rules and boosting sentiment toward Asia’s biggest economy.

• Markets are also digesting U.S. data on Friday that pointed to softer inflation and slower consumer spending, which could ease pressure on the Federal Reserve for more rate hikes.

• Gold has gained more than 9% this quarter, helped by the greenback’s retreat and hopes that the Fed will slow aggressive monetary tightening.

• Spot gold rose 1.7% to $1,828.86 an ounce as of 10:39 a.m. in New York on Tuesday; the Bloomberg Dollar Index dropped 0.3% and is close to its lowest since June. Silver and palladium were higher while platinum slipped

• Separately, copper in New York gained 2.4%.