【TOP1 Evening】Gold near 2-week high, Sterling holds out hope for Brexit breakthrough
Gold price to return to $2,000 in just a couple of months; Wall Street views are different on the rise of U.S. Stock. Oil slips as gloom grows over soaring Covid-19 cases, lockdowns.

Gold
Gold prices held steady near a two-week high on Tuesday as mounting COVID-19 cases, and fresh restrictions boosted hopes for a U.S. pandemic stimulus package.
The U.S. Congress will vote this week on a stopgap funding bill to provide more time to reach a deal on COVID-19 relief, while U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said there were signs of progress in talks on a bipartisan bill.
Spot gold rose 0.09% to $1863.96 per ounce by 18:30 (GMT+8).
Despite some short-term obstacles, gold will return to its peak of $2,000 an ounce in the next couple of months, according to Standard Chartered.
In November, gold was oversold, with prices falling well below $1,800 an ounce.
The steep fall in prices also suggests that the weak long positions have been flushed out, said Standard Chartered precious metals analyst Suki Cooper.
What this means for gold is that despite some short-term resistance at certain levels, the precious metal is likely to return to $2,000 an ounce in the first quarter of next year, Cooper pointed out.
The overall macro drivers remain very supportive of gold, including a weaker U.S. dollar and loose monetary policies worldwide.
Vaccine rollout and economic recovery from the coronavirus is not likely to be felt until the second half of next year, which leaves upside potential for gold in the meantime.
Elsewhere, by 18:30 (GMT+8), silver rose 0.41% to $24.550 per ounce,
Forex
The U.S. dollar was stable on Tuesday.
Sterling on Tuesday clung to hopes of a meeting between British Prime Minister Boris Johnston and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen salvaging a Brexit trade deal, while safe-harbor demand gave the dollar support as U.S. virus cases rose.
The British currency was whipsawed as the prospects of Britain and the European Union striking a last-minute deal ebbed and flowed. It shed as much as 1.5% overnight before recouping losses after the leaders' announced plans to meet in Brussels.
On Tuesday, the GBP/USD was down 0.16% to 1.3359 by 18:30(GMT+8).
Other majors had dipped a fraction against the U.S. dollar overnight with a broadly risk-averse mood, though dollar gains were muted as investors overwhelmingly consider it in a downtrend.
At 18:30(GMT+8), the EUR/USD rose 0.19% to 1.21306; the AUD/USD rose 0.19% to 0.74333; theUSD/JPY fell 0.08% to 103.965.
Crude Oil
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, adding to losses from the previous session that came as California tightened its pandemic lockdown through Christmas and coronavirus cases continued to surge in the United States and Europe.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $45.664 barrel, fell 0.16%, Brent was up to $48.575 a barrel, fell 0.12% by 18:30 (GMT+8).
Globally, a sharp rise in coronavirus cases has led to a string of renewed lockdowns, including strict measures in the U.S. state of California as well as Germany and South Korea.
"The pandemic situation is continuing to be very disruptive in quite a few places in the U.S. and parts of Europe. That's impacting sentiment on demand near term," said Lachlan Shaw, National Australia Bank's head of commodity research.
California on Monday required most of the state to close shop and stay at home under a new order which will last at least three weeks.
Government sources in France said the country may have to delay unwinding some lockdown restrictions next week after signs the downward trend in new cases had flattened out after shops were allowed to reopen late last month.
Stocks
Asia-Pacific stock mixed on Tuesday.
Nikkei 225 fell 80.36 points or 0.30%, close at 26,467.08.
S&P/ASX 200 rose 12.70 points or 0.19% to close at 6,687.70.
Hang Seng Index fell 202.29 or 0.76% to 26,304.56.
South Korea's Kospi fell 44.51 points or 1.62% to 2,700.93.
Taiwan capitalization-weighted stock index rose 103.80 points, or 0.73%, at 14,360.40.
The NASDAQ hit a record high, and the Wall Street views are different on U.S. Stock's rise.
Long-time Wall Street bull Ed Yardeni believes the market's all-time highs are justified.
Despite a record number of coronavirus cases and concerns surrounding the November jobs report, he maintains a "V"-shaped recovery is underway.
As for the remainder of the year, Yardeni speculates the market will rise as investors look to further diversify out of a handful of the year's highest flyers.
"November was one of the best months ever for the market," he said. "It broadened quite dramatically the small-cap and mid-cap stocks. It was just a great, great month for the market."
Even if the gains don't measure up to last month, Yardeni sees a positive end to the year.
"The market already had its Santa Claus rally," Yardeni said. "But it just keeps going up anyways, and no matter how much you try to look at it fundamentally, I think the fact is there is so much liquidity with interest rates so low driving the market higher."
Investor Peter Boockvar warns bullishness is at dangerous levels.
He's worried about investor optimism touching dot-com-bubble euphoria levels.
"Sentiment has gotten as ebullient as we've seen in early 2000," the Bleakley Advisory Group chief investment officer told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Monday. "It's all about that enthusiasm for stocks that should make somebody that is bullish call a time out."
Boockvar cites the Citi Panic/Euphoria Model to support his case. It shows market euphoria, a contrary indicator, bouncing higher over the past couple of months.
"Sentiment is literally off the charts bullish," said Boockvar, a CNBC contributor. "It typically means you are very, very vulnerable" to a market pullback.
Boockvar believes an inflation scare is the most likely driver to spark trouble.
Focus Tonight
05:30(GMT+8): United States API Crude Oil Stock Change (04/DEC), Previous:4.1M;
Bonus rebate to help investors grow in the trading world!