Gold inter-markets: any corrective move could be short-lived as uncertainty persists

Gold has always been the most preferred investment avenues during times of turbulence in financial markets or economic uncertainty. After UK voted to end its membership with the European Union, in last month's historic EU referendum, the yellow metal has attracted a lot of safe-haven flow that assisted the metal to soar to its highest level since March 2014.

Global flight to safety was reaffirmed by a sharp slide in US 10-year treasury yields and the USD/JPY pair. Adding to this, sharp spike in the Volatility Index (VIX), which was accompanied by a sell-off in the broader US equity index (S&P 500), further boosted demand for safe-haven assets - like treasuries, Yen and gold. 

Despite of the post-Brexit calm that led to sudden reversal in equity markets and global volatility, the metal continued with its upward trajectory as investors remained worried about the possible economic fallout from last month's historic vote in the UK to end its membership with the European Union. The concern was further reflective in the tepid bounce in the USD/JPY pair. Meanwhile, bond yields remained near record low levels on dimming prospects of any further Fed rate-hike in 2016, which is further supportive for higher gold prices. Moreover, increasing prospects of additional stimulus measures from other major central banks, especially by BOE, has been other factor that has kept gold prices elevated.

The commodity now seems to witness some profit-taking move from higher levels and is being accompanied by a continuous fall in the VIX and upward trajectory in the S&P 500 index. However, given the uncertain global environment investors are unlikely to immediately move away from the perceived safe-haven investment, which is likely to limit any sharp slide in the bullion. The USD/JPY pair's failure to register any remarkable recovery from lower levels is reflecting investors' cautious approach and supporting the presumption of prevailing uncertainty ahead of Friday's crucial release of US monthly jobs report, popularly known as NFP.