2020.04.2219:13:00UTC+00Gold Futures Rebound, Settle At 1-week High

Gold prices rose sharply on Wednesday as oil prices rebounded after recent heavy losses, and the dollar exhibited some weakness early on in the session.

Continued to worries about the global economy due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic contributed as well to the yellow metal's surge.

Meanwhile, Bank of America is bullish about the outlook for gold prices. Analysts at the bank have raised their 18-month target for gold to $3,000 an increase of 50% from the earlier target of $2,000 an ounce. The bank cites the monetary expansion plans from leading central banks as the trigger for the yellow metal.

The dollar recovered after initial weakness though. The dollar index, which fell to 99.90 in the Asian session, rallied to 100.50 as the day progressed and was last seen at 100.40, up by about 0.15% from previous close.

Gold futures for June ended up $50.50, or about 3%, at $1,738.30 an ounce, the highest close in about a week, after falling to a 2-week low in the previous session.

Silver futures for May gained more than 3% to $15.335 an ounce, while Copper futures were up 2.4% at $2.2835 per pound.

The global case tally for the coronavirus disease climbed to 2.58 million on Tuesday while the death toll rose to 178,096, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. has the highest case toll in the world at 825,306 and the highest death toll at 45,075.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved $484 billion in fresh relief to provide funding for a small business jobs program, hospitals hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, and national strategic testing.