CH: Gold may fall as rebound in U.S. dollar curbs demand
LONDON -- Gold, little changed in London, may drop as a rebound in the dollar curbs demand for the metal as an alternative investment. Platinum rose to a 13-month high.
The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of value against currencies of six trading partners, rose for a second day. The measure fell to the lowest level in more than 14 months on Oct. 21, while gold traded near the record US$1,070.80 an ounce the precious metal reached a week earlier. Bullion has climbed 0.7 percent this week and the dollar index has declined 0.5 percent.
“The dollar has been the main driver for gold,” Bernard Sin, head of currency and metals trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva, said by phone Friday.
Bullion for immediate delivery added 85 cents, or 0.1 percent, to US$1,060.95 an ounce by 11:55 a.m. local time. Spot prices are heading for a fourth weekly gain. December gold futures were 0.2 percent higher at US$1,061.10 on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division.
The metal gained to US$1,061.25 an ounce in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell production, from US$1,053 at Thursday's afternoon fixing.
Spot prices are up 20 percent this year and set for a ninth consecutive annual increase, the best performance since at least 1948. The dollar index is down 7.5 percent this year.
Thirteen of 25 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 52 percent, said bullion would rise next week as investors seek an alternative investment to a weakening dollar. Eight forecast lower prices and four were neutral.
Gold holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, were unchanged at 1,108.09 metric tons Thursday, according to the company's Web site. The fund's holdings reached a record 1,134 tons on June 1.
Platinum for immediate delivery in London gained as much as 0.8 percent to US$1,377.75 an ounce, the highest price since Sept. 8, 2008, and was last little changed at US$1,366.25.
Among other precious metals for immediate delivery in London, silver added 0.2 percent to US$17.69 an ounce, while palladium lost 0.5 percent to US$334.55 an ounce.
Silver held in ETF Securities Ltd.'s exchange-traded commodities products increased 0.5 percent to a record 21.199 million ounces Thursday, according to the company's Web site.
