Investing.com - Gold prices rose on Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) kept its gloomy outlook for 2020.
Gold Futures traded 0.4% to $1,566.65 by 11:57 PM ET (03:57 GMT).
The IMF reduced its forecast for global growth this year to 3.3% from 3.4% in October. The forecasts for the U.S. and euro zone were both revised down by the same amount.
The Fund also cut the forecast for 2021 by 0.2 percentage point to 3.4%, citing the slowdown in India and other emerging markets as additional factors.
The report pushed prices of the safe-haven metal higher, while equities fell.
Adding to concerns were report that Moody’s downgraded Hong Kong’s credit rating. The rating agency said Monday that “the absence of tangible plans to address either the political or economic and social concerns of the Hong Kong population that have come to the fore in the past nine months may reflect weaker inherent institutional capacity than Moody’s had previously assessed.”
Meanwhile, worries over China’s coronavirus were cited as tailwinds for the yellow metal today, after reports suggested evidence of the virus’ contagiousness among humans.
Elsewhere, unrest in Iraq over the weekend were also in focus, although it did not provide any visible support for gold prices.