🐂 Not all bull runs are created equal. November’s AI picks include 5 stocks up +20% eachUnlock Stocks

PRECIOUS-Gold drops, heads for sixth straight quarterly loss

Published 29/12/2015, 06:09 am
© Reuters.  PRECIOUS-Gold drops, heads for sixth straight quarterly loss
XAU/USD
-
XAG/USD
-
GC
-
SI
-
PA
-
PL
-

* London market closed post-Christmas, liquidity thin

* Gold down nearly 10 pct in 2015

* GRAPHIC-2015 asset returns: http://link.reuters.com/dub25t

* Silver slips 3 pct, biggest decliner among main precious metals (Updates prices; adds comment, second byline, NEW YORK dateline)

By Marcy Nicholson and Jan Harvey

NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Monday in line with a retreat in oil prices, giving up some of last week's gains, but moves were range bound in thin liquidity in a holiday-shortened week.

Gold rose nearly 1 percent during Christmas week, but remains on track to fall for a sixth successive quarter, its longest run of quarterly losses since the mid-1970s. It is down nearly 10 percent this year.

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.85 percent at $1,066.35 an ounce at 1:57 p.m. EST (1857 GMT), while U.S. gold futures GCv1 for February delivery settled down $7.60 an ounce, or 0.7 percent, at $1,068.30.

"It's the time of year when investors are looking at losses in their portfolios to offset capital gains," said Dan Heckman, national investment consultant for U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Kansas City.

"Technically and fundamentally, gold's in a bad spot here and we don't really see relief until we get somewhere into 2016. We're seeing a lot of money being pulled out of commodity ETFs and there's no buying interest."

Prices hit their lowest since early 2010 this month in anticipation of the first U.S. interest rate rise in nearly a decade. Though gold recovered lost ground in the wake of the announcement as dealers holding short positions covered, it remains under pressure, awaiting more clues on monetary policy.

"If you look at the last year's decline, that was due almost exclusively to a much stronger dollar, and that was due to the Fed being the only central body to raise rates with any conviction," ING analyst Hamza Khan said.

"The question of whether gold is going to recover in 2016 or not will depend not on whether the Fed hikes rates or not, because that seems to be a given, but whether it is the only one to hike rates."

Oil prices fell 3 percent after the long Christmas weekend, pressuring global equities lower. Gold is positively correlated to oil as the metal is seen as a hedge against petroleum-led inflation. O/R MKTS/GLOB

Interest in gold was muted in the major bullion-buying centers in Asia overnight, dealers said, though data showed China's net gold imports from Hong Kong rose month/month in November as prices fell to multi-year lows. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N14H211

Silver XAG= posted the biggest declines of the main precious metals, down 3.3 percent at $13.87 an ounce. Platinum XPT= was down 0.9 percent at $873.25 an ounce, while palladium XPD= was down 1.5 percent at $550 an ounce.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.