Gold price slides as demand for haven wanes

London (Jan 19)  Gold fell as demand for the haven asset weakened after relief rallies in global shares, oil and industrial metals following the release of Chinese economic growth figures.

Bullion sank 0.3% to $1 086.93 an ounce by 11:21am in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. While China said its economy expanded at the slowest pace since 2009, the result was better than the market’s worst fears, helping riskier assets.

“China is the main driver for gold at the moment,” Thorsten Proettel, a commodities analyst at Landesbank Baden- Wuerttemberg, said by phone from Stuttgart, Germany.

Gold is still up 2.5% this year amid a global stock market rout and selloff in crude oil prices. China’s GDP rose 6.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, missing analysts’ estimates of 6.9%, raising speculation the government will boost stimulus.

Investors increased holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold by 0.3% as of January 15, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Assets rose 4.4 metric tons to 1 489.1 tons, the highest level since the start of December, according to the data.

Platinum for immediate delivery rose 1.2% to $830.75 an ounce, helping shares of miners of the metal. Anglo American Platinum jumped 8.8% in Johannesburg, the third-best performance in the Bloomberg World Mining Index, and Impala Platinum Holdings rose 3.8%. AngloGold Ashanti dropped 1.4%.

Palladium gained 1.7% to $503.45 and silver 0.6% to $14.032 an ounce.

Source: MineWeb