Gold price plummets on prospects of ECB

New York (Sept 17)  Prices of gold tanked on Friday’s trade after a European Central Bank (ECB) official called for scaling back the bank’s stimulus program, although losses were capped when weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data raised questions about further interest rate hikes.

 Spot gold was down 0.6% at USD 1,321.88 an ounce, on track for its biggest weekly decline since early July.

 U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down 0.3% at USD 1,325.20 an ounce.

 The Fed’s two-day monetary policy meeting begins on September 19, 2017. A leading research agency said August gold imports into India, the world's second-biggest gold consumer were the lowest so far this year. In other precious metals, platinum's discount to gold fell to around USD 360.

 Platinum dropped 1% to USD 969 an ounce after touching USD 959.95, the lowest since Aug. 16. This is also around where the 50-day moving average crossed above the 200-day moving average. The metal was down 3.7% for the week, on track for its biggest weekly drop since March.

 Silver fell 0.8% to USD 17.61 and was set to mark its first weekly decline in four.

HFL