Gold, Silver Higher on Fear of Second Virus Wave

Gold last traded at $1,736 an ounce. Silver at $17.49 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: Precious metal prices rose Monday on safe-haven buying and a weaker dollar. U.S. stocks rebounded as news from a Moderna trial stoked investor optimism about a potential coronavirus vaccine.

BLOOMBERG--- "Gold jumped toward its peak in April, when prices hit the highest since 2012, after bleak U.S. government data underscored how hard coronavirus-related shutdowns have hit the world's largest economy. Friday gold futures posted the highest close to a week since October 2012 after U.S. factory production plummeted in April by the most in records back to 1919, and a gauge of U.S. retail sales plunged through the record set just a month earlier. 'Everybody must have realized it, but it's just more evidence that the reality is this is a pretty bleak economic picture right now,' Phil Streible, chief market strategist for Blue Line Futures LLC, said by phone. 'People are continuing to pile into gold because that weak economic picture is going to continue to drive interest rates lower.' Silver also got a stronger bid, rallying to the highest in over two months. The two precious metals have been lifted after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned last week that the pandemic will take a heavy toll on the economy.....Nations that enjoyed success quelling the virus, including South Korea and China, now face a rising number of infections. In the U.S., Texas saw its deadliest day and its biggest jump in new cases since the start of the outbreak. That comes two weeks after controversial moves to reopen the state's economy."