Gold hits 3-week low as easing growth woes lift equities
Gold prices slipped to a more than three-week low on Tuesday as waning global economic slowdown concerns dented the precious metal’s safe-haven appeal and lifted equities to multi-month highs.
Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,286.82 per ounce by 0524 GMT, having touched its lowest since March 7 at $1,284.76 earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures fell about 0.3 percent to $1,291.
“Concerns we saw emerge in the past few weeks around economic growth has certainly eased and that shift (in sentiment) in the past day or two resulted in little bit of selling in gold market,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said.
“Most of the global growth is coming from China and the (Chinese) data over the weekend eased those concerns.”
Strong manufacturing data from the United States and China triggered a massive sell-off in the U.S. bond market on Monday, which in-turn lifted Asian equities to seven-month highs.
Following upbeat factory activity data from China released on Sunday, a private business survey on Monday showed that the manufacturing sector unexpectedly returned to growth for the first time in four months in March.
This was followed by a better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing report which showed that activity rebounded a bit more than expected in March.
Market participants are now looking ahead to the U.S. non-farm payroll data, due this Friday, for more details on the economy’s performance.
Investors are also keeping a close watch on the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations, set to resume later this week in Washington with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He.
Strong payroll data tends to boost the dollar, while any positive developments from the trade talks would further increase investors’ appetite for riskier assets, both negative for gold.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against key rivals, was trading close to a three-week high posted on Monday. A stronger dollar makes gold expensive for holders of other currencies.
Indicating investor sentiment for bullion, holdings in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell 1.5 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day percentage decline in a month.
On the technical front, $1,275 to $1,280 an ounce level remains the key longer-term support for gold, according to an OANDA note.
Among other precious metals, spot palladium was down 0.4 percent at $1,414.11 an ounce, after rising the most since late February in the previous session.
Silver slipped 0.3 percent to $15.06 an ounce, while platinum gained 0.2 percent to $849.47 an ounce._Reuters