Open interest in gold futures markets rose for the second session in a row on Thursday, this time by around 29.7K contracts considering preliminary reading from CME Group. Volume followed suit and went up markedly by around 132.8K contracts.

Gold now looks to $2,000/oz

Gold prices finally reached the key $1,900 mark per ounce troy in past hours, although it still remains unable to close above it on a daily basis. Thursday’s uptick was on the back of rising open interest and volume, which reinforces the view that extra gains in the precious metal are likely in the very near term. That said, the next key target for bullion comes at the $2,000 mark, levels last seen in August 2020.