Gold slips from four-week high as dollar, equities firm on coronavirus slowdown

Gold prices eased from a four-week high on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar and global equities strengthened on signs of a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,657.67 per ounce, as of 0110 GMT, after rising to a four-week high earlier in the session. The metal climbed 2.8% on Monday.

* U.S. gold futures rose 1.7% to $1,723.

* The dollar was holding close to a near two-week high scaled in the previous session. [USD/]

* Asian markets looked poised on Tuesday to attempt another day of gains after stocks rallied on signs of easing coronavirus deaths, as oil prices resumed their decline on doubts about a potential Saudi-Russian pact to cut output.

* Central banks have been turning to quantitative easing (QE), or large-scale purchases of government bonds and other financial assets to pump money into the economy.

* The Federal Reserve on Monday moved to bolster a new small-business lending program by allowing banks to turn those loans over to the U.S. central bank for cash, easing concerns among banks about getting stuck holding the low interest loans.

* A near total closure of U.S. businesses as authorities try to control the spread of the virus could make U.S. economic data unreliable in the coming months and harder to get a clearer picture of the severity of the recession caused by the virus.

* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Monday to roll out an unprecedented economic stimulus package, equal to 20% of economic output, as his government vowed to take "all steps" to battle the deepening fallout from the coronavirus.

* The virus is the European Union`s biggest ever challenge and member-states must show greater solidarity so that the bloc can emerge stronger from the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday.

* Meanwhile, India`s gold imports plunged more than 73% year-on-year in March to their lowest in 6-1/2 years as record domestic prices and a lockdown to curb the outbreak squeezed retail demand, a government source said on Monday.

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world`s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.54% to 984.26 tonnes on Monday.

* Palladium rose 0.8% to $2,172.53 per ounce, while platinum was steady at $735.26.

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* Silver edged up 0.1% to $14.99 an ounce, having touched a more than three-week high earlier in the session.