US MIDDAY: gold edges lower

Gold edged lower on Tuesday after US equities hit all-time highs on market expectations for higher growth and more spending from a Donald Trump presidency. Trump's victory in the November 8 US election initially saw a flight to safe-haven assets such as gold but the trend quickly reversed as the dollar and bond yields surged on expectations of higher US spending and interest rates.
Spot gold was down 0.14 percent at $1,211.97 an ounce by 2:18 pm EST (1918 GMT). The previous day, bullion advanced 0.4 percent to snap three sessions of losses. US gold futures settled up 0.1 percent at $1,211.20 per ounce. Safe haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen are usually the casualties of a flight to risk where the dollar and stocks perform well. "We are still in the Donald Trump honeymoon period which has taken the equity market quite a bit higher. The market is looking for global growth to come to the rescue," said Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen.
"The market is resetting its expectations and that is having a negative impact on precious metals." Stocks have rallied since the election as Trump has promised tax cuts, higher spending on infrastructure and simpler regulations in the banking and healthcare industries.
Gold has fallen more than $100 an ounce from its post-election peak on November 9 as US Treasury yields posted their biggest two-week rise in more than five years and the dollar shot higher. "Weakness will likely remain persistent while traders continue to test the downside in hopes of finding more weakness, though buying out of Asia seems to be the only real support at the moment," said Miguel Perez-Santalla, vice president of Heraeus Metal Management in New York. Adding further pressure on gold was the expected rise in US interest rates in December, traders and analysts said.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings fell 0.71 percent to 908.77 tonnes on Monday. Holdings have fallen 3.6 percent so far this month. Silver rose 0.3 percent to $16.63 an ounce and platinum was 0.3 percent higher at $936.99. Palladium, which is also used as an industrial metal, rose by as much as 2.9 percent to $749.40, the highest since early June.