Gold rises modestly as dollar slips
New York (April 12) Gold prices inched up on Friday, a day after the metal posted its biggest daily percentage decline in two weeks, as the dollar and Asian equities slipped.
Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at to $1,293.30 per ounce as of 0804 GMT, after touching a one-week low on Thursday. U.S. gold futures gained 0.2 percent to $1,295.40 an ounce.
The dollar fell about 0.2 percent against key rivals, paring most of the gains made in the previous session, and was en route its first weekly fall in four.
“Market is holding tight ahead of the corporate earnings to know whether the economic conditions slowed in the first quarter and did it affect the corporate structure,” Phillip Futures analyst Benjamin Lu said.
“If earnings show stronger and better than expected results we might see gold stepping back a little further.”
Strong earnings will likely increase investors appetite for riskier assets, denting bullion's appeal.
Asian shares weakened on Friday as trepidation ahead of the start of the U.S. corporate earnings season and underlying anxiety over the global growth outlook eclipsed some reassuring U.S. economic data.
Gold fell more than one percent in the previous session after reports showed that the weekly jobless claims in the United States fell to the lowest in nearly half a century and producer prices increased the most in five months in March.
“The robust U.S. data triggered a tsunami of stop-loss order collapsing markets and blowing out virtually every weak bullish gold position,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading and market strategy at SPI Asset Management.
The metal was on track for its first weekly gain in three, having risen 0.1 percent so far this week.
It had risen to its highest since end-March earlier this week due to dovish central banks and worries about global growth.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its global economic growth forecasts for the year. The U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank maintained their dovish policy stance citing slowdown in global growth.
Gold may end its bounce around a resistance at $1,297 per ounce, and then retest a support at $1,291, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
Among other precious metals, silver gained 0.4 percent to $15.01 an ounce, but was down about 0.5 percent for the week.
Spot platinum gained about 1.1 percent to $897.05 per ounce, and was on track for its fifth straight weekly gain.
Palladium was up about 0.5 percent at $1,372.49 per ounce.
BusinessLine
