New York (Mar 12)  Gold futures closed slightly higher on Thursday, following a streak of massive losses in recent days amid mounting concerns of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for April delivery closed up 0.07% or 0.80 at $1,151.40 a troy ounce. Gold prices moved above $1,165 in U.S. trading before falling steadily hours later.

Metals traders await next week' s Federal Open Market Committee meeting when the Fed could remove its reference to " remaining patient," in its minutes. The removal is typically an indication that the U.S. central bank is ready to raise interest rates at either of its next two meetings. After next week' s meeting, the FOMC will meet in June and September.

Gold had been in freefall since last Friday when prices declined more than $30 an ounce, following stronger than expected U.S. employment data in the February jobs report. The creation of 295,000 new U.S. jobs, as well as a 5.5% unemployment rate has heightened concerns that the Fed could raise interest rates by June. On Wednesday, gold futures fell more than $10 an ounce to approach a 52-week low of $1,142.47 from early-November.

The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, continued its march toward 100, approaching a level it has not reached in more than a dozen years. The index gained 0.04% on Thursday to close at 99.16.

The U.S. dollar, though, closed down 0.08% against the euro at 1.0628. Dollar-denominated commodities such as gold become more appealing to holders of other currencies when the dollar depreciates. The dollar is still up more than 10% against the euro this year.

Silver futures, meanwhile, for May delivery were up 0.0030 or 0.19% to trade at 15.567 a troy ounce.

Copper delivery for May rose 0.003 or 0.11% to $2.662 a pound.

Elsewhere, Platinum and Palladium futures were both slightly up. Platinum for April delivery rose 0.05 to 1,116.05, one day after falling to its lowest level since July, 2009. Palladium for June deliveries increased 0.10 to 789.90.

Source: Investing.com

Frankfurt (Mar 11)  Gold prices in Europe were slightly lower on Wednesday, as largely sideways trading was buffeted by dollar headwinds.

Spot gold was trading at $US1,158.51 a troy ounce, down 0.3 per cent, in morning European trade -- remaining within a tight $US8 range.

The yellow metal was " beholden to currency moves" and a strengthening dollar was keeping it under pressure, David Govett, head of precious metals at brokerage Marex Spectron, said.

Gold is a dollar-denominated commodity and, as a result, it becomes more expensive to buy for those holding other currencies when the greenback gains. This typically leads to demand easing and prices coming off.

Even the eurozone' s renewed financial woes haven' t been enough to keep gold afloat.

" Despite the economic uncertainty we are facing -- especially with regards to Greece and the slowdown in Japan, the eurozone and China -- the dollar appears to be the top pick as a safe haven asset, leaving gold to play second fiddle," said Howie Lee, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures.

Other precious metals were mixed. Silver was up 0.03 per cent at $US15.643 an ounce, platinum was down 0.2 at $US1,125.40 an ounce, and palladium was up 0.01 per cent at $US801.10 an ounce.

Source: HeraldSun

London  (Mar 11)  Gold dropped close to its lowest in more than three months on Wednesday, looking set for an eighth consecutive session of losses as a robust dollar and expectations of higher U.S. interest rates curbed appetite for the metal.

Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,158.55 an ounce by 1031 GMT, not far from its lowest since Dec. 1, the $1,155.60 hit in the previous session.

U.S. gold for April delivery was down $2.60 an ounce to $1,157.50.

Stronger than expected U.S. non-farm payroll data on Friday renewed expectations that the Federal Reserve would begin to increase interest rates in June.

Higher rates could dent demand for assets that do not pay interest, such as gold, and boost the dollar, which was trading at its highest in more than 11 years against a basket of major currencies.

" I don' t expect prices to fall below $1,150 as opportunistic buying would come in at that level," ING Bank senior strategist Hamza Khan said.

" The Fed has been so evasive in nailing down a date for an interest rate hike that until we actually see some concrete plans we are going to be trading within the $1,150 to $1,250 range."

A strong U.S. currency makes dollar-denominated assets such as gold more expensive for holders of other currencies, often reducing demand.

The metal was also under pressure from firmer European shares, which bounced back after the previous session' s sell-off.

BARGAIN HUNTERS

The drop in gold to multi-month lows has attracted some bargain hunters in Asia, the top bullion-consuming region, traders said.

In China, the metal was traded at a premium of about $5 an ounce to the London global benchmark, an indication of good buying interest.

Sustained physical buying could provide a floor for falling prices.

Weakness in gold spread to other precious metals, with platinum taking the biggest hit. Prices slumped to their lowest since July 2009 at $1,119.50 an ounce.

Silver was up 0.6 percent at $15.71 an ounce, having dropped to a two-month low on Tuesday, and palladium was down 0.3 percent at $798.95 an ounce.

Source: Reuters

Singapore (Mar 10)   Gold prices have swung into defensive mode on fresh signs of resurgence in the US economy, wilting the metal' s safe haven appeal. Traders foresee further downside potential as stronger-than-expected economic data argues for an earlier rise in US interest rates.
One major indication of gold' s increased sensitivity to US statistics was the metal' s slump on Friday to $1,163 per ounce, its lowest price in three months, after the Labour Department released data showing non-farm payrolls grew more than expected in February. Other recent data on US private employment and durable goods orders has also hurt gold. In the coming weeks, data on housing, jobless claims and gross domestic product will be closely watched for clues on the strength of the economy.

While the possibility of a US rate hike has clouded the gold market for more than a year, analysts said the metal' s drop on Friday, the steepest decline linked to US non-farm payrolls data since May 2009, was notable. " While a rising rates environment bodes ill for gold, its sensitivity to Friday' s data highlights that, the gold market at least, has not fully priced in a rate hike," Barclays analysts said in a note.
Investor positioning in recent days has begun to show increasing caution, with holdings of the world' s top gold fund, SPDR Gold Trust, falling to their lowest in more than a month on Monday. Markets continue to underestimate Federal Reserve rate hikes this year and next year, says MKS Group' s senior precious metals dealer Alex Thorndike. The current market consensus is for the Fed to begin raising rates sometime in the middle of 2015. Rates have been kept near zero since the 2008 financial crisis.

Adding to the pressure on gold is the strength of the dollar, which is trading at an 11-year high against a basket of major currencies after the US jobs report. ANZ expects gold to drop to $1,100 per ounce in the next three months due to a stronger greenback, before recovering slightly to end the year at $1,225.

Source: ArabNews

San Francisco (Mar 9)  Gold has steadied as the US dollar rally paused and European shares fell, but it remains near a three-month low after a US jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates soon.

Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $US1,166.72 an ounce by 5.30am (AEDT), after marking its biggest daily loss on Friday since October 1, 2013.

US gold for April delivery settled up $US2.20 an ounce at $US1,164.30.

" Data on Friday was so significantly higher than expectated that the market started to think that the Fed will have to start changing their language at the next meeting," Citi analyst David Wilson said.

On Friday, the Labor Department' s employment report showed that US employers stepped up hiring in February and the jobless rate fell to its lowest since May 2008, sending Treasury yields higher. Higher interest rates could dent demand for assets that do not pay interest, such as gold.

The US dollar paused after hitting an 11-and-a-half-year high against a basket of leading currencies.

Greece will meet with European experts on Wednesday to start detailed discussions on Greek reforms tied to its emergency financing, the head of the Eurogroup said. Persistent uncertainty over the debt crisis, which could see Greece exit the euro zone, could boost retail demand for gold.

" (It is) a lacklustre trading day, as the markets attempt to sell off after last Friday' s employment data," Steve Scacalossi, director and head of sales for TD Securities' Global Metals in New York, said in a note.

In a sign of waning investor interest, holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the top gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to their lowest in more than a month on Friday, while speculators cut net long positions in COMEX gold futures and options for a fifth straight week.

Demand for physical bullion in the main Asian markets after the price dip could provide some support, traders said.

Premiums in the second-biggest gold consumer, China, largely traded between $US5 and $US6 on Monday, up from $US4 to $US5 in the previous session, signalling increased demand.

Spot silver was down 0.5 per cent at $US15.86 after falling to its lowest in two months at $US15.69 an ounce. Palladium was up 0.5 per cent at $US819.75 an ounce, while platinum was down one per cent at $US1,160.15 after falling to its lowest since mid-July 2009 at $US1,142.50 an ounce.

Source: BusinesSpectator

New York (Mar 9)  As gold prices struggle to gain momentum following Friday' s strong U.S. employment data, the metal is expected to consolidate further, and hanging below $1,200/oz may just be what it needs to recover, said analysts at UBS.

" We think some consolidation is now warranted at this point as the market awaits fresh catalysts. Seasonality suggests that gold may be vulnerable to the downside up ahead," they said in a research note published Monday.

" Prices below $1200 could well be what is needed right now to encourage more activity across physical markets and aid a recovery towards the psychological level."

Shifting focus to the ' elephant in the room' &ndash U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hikes &ndash UBS analysts argued that although pressure will be put on gold prices, the downside potential may be limited.

" UBS' house view is more aggressive and closer to the Fed' s outlook than the street as the market' s view converges with the Fed' s thinking, positions in gold are likely to be adjusted accordingly," they said.

" Relatively neutral YTD positioning also suggests that there isn' t a huge amount of firepower to push the market lower too aggressively. We therefore expect the downside to be ultimately contained," they added.

The analysts said they have reevaluated their short-term forecasts for the metals as they expect the precious metals complex to consolidate and come under pressure for the next few weeks, following gold' s lead.
" For gold, we change our one-month target to $1200 from $1240 previously and change the three-month forecast to $1170 from $1200," they said.

" We set our new short-term forecasts for silver at $16.25 from $17.4 for one month and at $15.8 from $16.5 for three months," they added.

Source: KitcoNews