Gold prices were down but off their lows on Tuesday after a failure to breach a key target inspired investor selling, with a rise in the dollar and soft oil prices adding to the pressures on the market.
An announcement by Germany's Bundesbank that it would sell no substantial amount of gold from its reserves over the next six months had no immediate impact on gold prices but would support market sentiment, they said.
"The market has largely ignored news that the Bundesbank is not going to sell gold this year. It just shows that the funds are not very keen on gold at present," said Yingxi Yu, analyst at Barclays Capital. "Overall it should be a positive element for sentiment, although we have not seen much of an impact today."
Spot gold had made several attempts in the past two weeks to break above $560 an ounce, but prices fell as investors booked profits. It slipped to $546.90 before recovering to $550.00/550.90 by 1604 GMT, still down from $553.90/554.80 in New York on Monday.
Dealers said the metal came under pressure because of a rise in the dollar and weakness in oil prices. The dollar rose after core US producer prices for February increased more than expected, strengthening market expectations that the Federal Reserve might not be done raising interest rates.
Oil prices extended losses on forecasts of another rise in US crude stocks. Soft oil eases inflation worries and reduces gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation. The dollar and gold generally move in opposite directions, but the relationship has weakened in recent months.
"Gold consolidated a little bit over recent weeks and can move higher from where we are," said Michael Widmer, analyst at Macquarie Bank Ltd. Analysts said the metal had formed a base to move higher as many short-term players had moved out of the market in recent sessions after booking profits.
Analysts said the Bundesbank's decision would not have any major impact on prices, but the news reassured people that the bank would not sell gold this year. "It's good news but it's not really news," Widmer said, adding the decision was expected but should be positive for the metal.
Analysts said any substantial sale by the bank had the potential to drag down gold prices. The bank said it would sell no substantial amount of gold from its reserves in the year ending next September.
The gold sales agreement among European central banks was renewed in September 2004. The second year of the accord, under which the Bundesbank is entitled to sell 120 tonnes of gold a year for five years, ends in September.
The bank held 3,427.8 tonnes of gold in December 2005, worth about $61 billion, making it the second-biggest holder of gold after the United States Federal Reserve. Fifteen European central banks have pledged to cap their total gold sales at 2,500 tonnes in the 2004-2009 period, compared with 2,000 in the previous five years.
In other metals, silver declined to $10.23/10.26 an ounce from $10.33/10.36 in New York and a 22-year high of $10.43 hit last week. Platinum fell to $1,032/1,036 an ounce from $1,041/1,045. The metal touched a two-week high of $1,041 on Monday on fund buying. Palladium eased to $312/316 an ounce from $317/321.
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