Gold prices fell more than one percent at the end of trading Tuesday (Wednesday morning WIB) because the metal rally to the highest level of seven in the last session prompted profit-taking even when worries about the coronavirus made investors anxious about the fate of the global economy.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange released almost all of the gains from the previous session in a sharp downward correction.

The most active gold contract price for April delivery fell 26.60 US dollars, or 1.59 percent, to settle at 1,650.00 US dollars per ounce. Gold futures on Monday (2/25/2020) jumped 27.8 dollars or 1.69 percent to 1,676.6 dollars per ounce.

On the spot market, gold slipped about one percent to trade at 1,644.40 US dollars per ounce at 13.56 local time (185.6 GMT). The day before the metal jumped as much as 2.8 percent to 1,688.66 US dollars, the highest since January 2013.

"The pillars of support for gold remain low-interest rates by major central banks. Funds have diversified profits from equity portfolios into the gold market." Mainland China has 508 new confirmed cases, up from 409 on February 23, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 77,658.

Corona Virus Greatly Affects the Decline in Gold Prices

The rapid spread of the virus outside China has raised concerns over its impact on the global economy, prompting some bets that the US Federal Reserve will be pressured to cut interest rates to protect the virus blow.

"The market is definitely in the process of pricing in additional interest rate cuts in the US, where speculation about March cuts has begun to attract attention," said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.

However, "the dollar could strengthen even further which slows down the gold approach, but major central banks are trying to do what they can to support the economy." Countries around the world are stepping up efforts to stop the pandemic virus that has emerged in China and spread in Europe and the Middle East.

"With the virus spreading to other regions, and if China experiences a recurrence and obstacles to growth continue into April, gold could move to 1,650-1,700 dollars per ounce," USB analysts wrote in a note.

Among other precious metals on the spot market, palladium jumped three percent to 2,707 dollars per ounce. Silver fell 2.3 percent to 18.20 dollars per ounce, after touching the highest level since early September on Monday (2/24/2020). Platinum fell 3.3 percent to 931.7 dollars.

The Price of Gold Has Signed a Significant Decline

The decline in gold prices can also be seen in the euro and gold prices in sterling fell from the highest peak of all time on Monday (2/24/2020).

In trading on Wednesday (2/26/2020) at 4:00 WIB, the Comex gold price for the April 2020 contract dropped 33.8 points or 2.2 percent to the US $ 1,642.80 per troy ounce. Meanwhile, spot gold fell 28.68 points or 1.73 percent to the US $ 1,630.7 per troy ounce.

Reporting from Bloomberg, the price of gold slipped from its highest level since 2013 along with the easing of the global stock selloff in Asia on Tuesday (24/2020), while authorities around the world took steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19).

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester also commented on the price reduction, that although the coronavirus outbreak worsens continues to pose a threat to the US economy, this is not a reason for making changes in monetary policy.

Domestically, Antam's gold bar prices based on the gold price list for LM Pulogadung Boutique Jakarta on Wednesday (2/25/2020) reached the level of Rp809,000 per gram. The price of a gold buyback fell sharply Rp10,000 to Rp731,000 per gram from Monday (2/24/2020).