PRECIOUS-Gold prices fall as dollar gains, stocks rebound
* Spot gold on track for biggest weekly gain in seven
* Palladium off eight-month highs hit on Thursday
* Platinum hovers near Thursday’s over two-month highs
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments) BENGALURU, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Gold prices eased on Friday, the session after their biggest daily gain in more than two years, coming under pressure as the U.S. dollar climbed and global stocks rebounded from a six-day rout.
Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,217.81 an ounce
2.5 percent on safe-haven buying during an equities selloff.
Thursday’s peak of $1,226.27 was the highest since July 31. Spot gold was on track for its biggest weekly gain in seven weeks, up about 1.3 percent for the week.
U.S. gold futures settled down $5.6, or 0.46
percent, at $1,222. “A rally in the U.S. dollar is putting downward pressure on gold today,” said Alex Turro, market strategist at RJO Futures.
The dollar index rose as global equities rebounded
from a multiday selloff, boosted by strong export data in China.
“Event-driven rallies usually don’t last long,” said George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management, adding that a rebound in equities was one of the main factors weighing on gold. “We need more (ammunition) for gold to move further as it has been very well abandoned with only a few central banks buying besides some retail buyers.” Gold remains down about more than 10 percent from its April peak, pressured by a strong dollar as the U.S.-China trade war unfolds while the Federal Reserve has raised U.S. interest rates. The Fed hiked rates last month for the third time this year and is expected to raise them again in December. “Gold is going to be dictated by the U.S. Federal Reserve. As long as interest rates continue to move higher, it’s going to continue to apply a lot of downward pressure on the precious complex,” RJO Futures’ Turro said. During Thursday’s surge, bullion broke above the narrow trading range of the past 1-1/2 months. “Gold is trading fairly close to the 100-day moving average at $1,228. There should be plenty of resistance, but a close above that level could signal a move higher,” MKS PAMP Group traders said in a note.
In other precious metals, palladium fell over 1
percent to $1,065.72. The metal rose to its highest since Jan. 26. at $1,096.80 in the previous session.
Silver was up 0.1 percent at $14.57 and platinum
fell 0.7 percent to $833.49, hovering below the previous session’s more than two-month high of $843.90.
(Reporting by Swati Verma and Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)
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