Gold prices set for sixth straight quarterly gain

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,616.34 an ounce, as of 0037 GMT. U.S. gold futures eased 0.1% to $1,641.20.

Reuters

March 31, 2020 / 07:15 AM IST

Gold prices eased on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar held firm, while fears of further economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic provided some supported to bullion, which is on track to post its sixth straight quarterly gain.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,616.34 an ounce, as of 0037 GMT. U.S. gold futures eased 0.1% to $1,641.20.

* The metal was up about 6.5% for the quarter, set for its sixth consecutive quarterly percentage rise.

* The dollar held steady against its key rivals, having gained 0.8% in the previous session as investors braced for prolonged uncertainty and governments tightened lockdowns and launched monetary and fiscal measures to fight the virus.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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