Spot gold hit by U.S.-inspired sell off
LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gold sank near to seven-month lows during late European trade on Wednesday, hit by a wave of sales out of New York, dealers said.
London gold fixed at $285.05 an ounce in the afternoon, just off the morning's $285.50, as the yen turned higher once again.
Spot gold fell on a wave of selling after the 1400 GMT fix, flirting with $283.00 support, near last week's six-month low.
Gold dropped to $276.50 an ounce bid on January 13 this year, at the time an 18-1/2-year low for the metal.
''It was doing rather well this morning once the yen picked up but it's given way again,'' said one London dealer.
''It's these Americans again. I don't know what they are playing at,'' he said in reference to U.S. bullion traders, who have moved the market several dollars in both directions during their three trading sessions so far this week.
The dealer said he expected support to hold firm at $282.50/$283.00 with overhead resistance well in place at $288.00/$289.00.
''Physical demand is fairly thin, the market is just stuck, it's summer,'' he said.
Low gold prices and depressed volumes in July pushed London daily clearing turnover to the lowest monthly figure on record, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Wednesday.
''Clearing levels for gold fell across the board from the previous month and from July 1997 as well,'' the LBMA said in a statement.
''In value terms, the $8.8 billion recorded was the lowest level reached so far, based on an average gold price of $292.87,'' it said, referring to data records it has released each month since October 1996.
Troy ounces transferred by LBMA clearing bank members, a measure of the bullion business done in London, totalled 30 million, 14 percent down on June and 19 percent down year-on-year.
''People are just taking a little less interest in gold. It doesn't mean less profit because we have other things to look at instead of spot,'' said one senior bullion dealer.
''People are reflecting on what's going on. The European central banks for example are more or less out of the market for now,'' he added.
Spot gold was last at $283.40/$283.90, below New York's Tuesday close of $283.70/$284.20 having managed to climb above $286.00 mid-way through European business.
Silver continued to track gold, albeit with less volatility, to be last at $5.20/$5.23, two cents above New York's close.
Platinum dropped back to $372.00/$374.00, more than $2.00 down on New York, while palladium rebounded off its earlier lows to be last just $2.00 down at $288.00/$298.00.
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