Stronger On Russian Unrest & Recessionary Fears

Gold edges higher to 1925.71 (+0.25%) in Asia-Pac trading as geopolitical uncertainty increases following the weekend’s attempted mutiny by Russian mercenary group Wagner. The upside for gold may however prove limited after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin suddenly halted his dramatic advance toward Moscow.

• Ahead of the weekend, bullion closed 0.4% higher as the market weighed recessionary signals that came from the latest round of PMI data. Advance PMIs for June suggested that the Eurozone economy had slowed sharply with the service sector PMI dropping more than expected and the manufacturing PMI falling further into contractionary territory. In the US, the manufacturing PMI fell more than expected into contractionary territory and sat just above the lows from December of last year.
• Nonetheless, gold closed 1.9% lower last week as hawkish commentary from global central banks weighed.