2020.04.0110:41:00UTC+00Gold Prices Rise On Pandemic Fears

Gold prices rose on Wednesday as a surge in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and Europe deepened the gloom over the likely impact on the world economy and raised expectations of further monetary easing by central banks.

Spot gold rose a little over 1 percent to $1,593.49 per ounce, after having fallen 3.1 percent in the previous session on a strong dollar. U.S. gold futures were up 0.7 percent at $1,608.10.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that the world faces the most challenging crisis since World War II, threatening a lengthy global recession that probably has no parallel in the recent past.

The U.S. recorded a big daily jump of 26,000 new cases, bringing the total to more than 189,000. The death toll there leaped to over 4,000, with officials predicting the disease could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans.

Spain reported 864 new coronavirus fatalities today, marking its deadliest day since the crisis began. Italy extended the nationwide lockdown to April 13, even as cases appeared to level off.

As recession worries mount, the International Monetary Fund has eased access to its emergency facilities and raised the ability of the poorest countries to strengthen their crisis response to the coronavirus pandemic, the fund's managing director said late Tuesday.