KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — Shares of gold-related counters such as listed jewellers Poh Kong Holdings Bhd and Tomei Consolidated Bhd were actively traded in the afternoon session today as gold prices reportedly rose to a three-month high on a weaker US dollar and lower United States’ (US) Treasury yields.

At 2.45pm today, Poh Kong surged 20 sen to RM1.02, Tomei jumped 27 sen to RM1.28 and Niche Capital Emas rose 4.5 sen to 27 sen.

SPI Asset Management global managing partner Stephen Innes said the key focus would be the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) statement but there is no indication that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would be in a rush to taper or looking to extend current quantitative easing exercise throughout the year, which should be supportive for gold.

“The combination of higher inflation and a dovish statement by the Fed is a fantastic combination for gold, provided that the Fed policy does not adjust to higher inflation and the FOMC continue to view current inflation as transitory,” he told Bernama.

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On Friday, Dallas Federal Reserve president Robert Kaplan raised the prospect of a rise in US inflation expectations due to imbalances between supply and demand for labour and goods. — Bernama