Gold Snaps Two-Day Loss 

Gold climbed, snapping a two-day loss, as investors took advantage of the decline to boost positions even as global equities extended an advance. Silver in China traded near the highest level in almost three years.

Bullion for immediate delivery climbed as much as 0.6 percent to $1,340.66 an ounce and traded at $1,337.26 at 12:53 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Prices fell 1.7 percent on Tuesday, the most since June 21, after a 0.8 percent loss on Monday. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, silver futures were little changed after closing at the highest since October 2013 on Tuesday.

Gold has rallied this year as the U.K.’s Brexit vote roiled markets and spurred haven demand. The gains were trimmed in the opening days of this week as global stocks erased losses sparked by the vote amid speculation of further stimulus from governments and central banks. In Japan, while the Sankei newspaper reported officials are considering “helicopter money” as an option to boost growth, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said such a policy was not being looked at.

“Gold has pulled back strongly on Monday and Tuesday, as risk appetite generally improved, so some buying on pullbacks could have been behind the bounce,” Bernard Aw, a strategist at IG Asia Pte, said in an e-mail. “Market participants probably fear that a strong fiscal stimulus package from Japan may not materialize.”

A gauge of the dollar eased for a second day and the pound strengthened before Theresa May takes over as the U.K.’s prime minister. Economists expect the Bank of England to cut interest rates on Thursday.

“Markets have high expectations of a stimulus package from the central bank, and any disappointment could trigger a return to a risk-off environment and a corresponding flight back into gold,” Bryan Lum, a Singapore-based strategist with Phillip Futures Pte, said in an e-mail, referring to the BOE.

In the U.S., the likelihood of tightening by the year’s end rose. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Tuesday he thought the Brexit decision wouldn’thave a lasting effect on the world’s largest economy. While traders are pricing in only a 4 percent probability of a rate rise this month, the odds of a move by December are back up to 34 percent, from about 8 percent after the U.K.’s June 23 referendum.

• Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded funds fell from a three-year high, down 10.6 metric tons to 2,002 tons on Tuesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
• In China, bullion of 99.99 percent purity lost 1.5 percent to 288.10 yuan a gram ($1,340.48 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
• Silver for December delivery was flat at 4,515 yuan a kilogram ($21 an ounce) on the Shanghai Futures Exchange after closing at 4,517 yuan on Tuesday, the highest since October 2013.
• Spot silver rose 0.6 percent as palladium surged 1 percent and platinum fell 0.5 percent.

Source: Bloomberg

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