US gold futures gave back some recent gains by the close and held at lower levels throughout the session on Tuesday, as some large players decided to take profits, traders said.
"It was just a little bit of profit taking. Guys who have sizeable positions are just taking some money off the table. That's it," said one New York gold dealer. June gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division fell $3.70 to $590.60 an ounce by the close and set a session range between $589.50 to $595.30.
Comex estimated final gold turnover at 50,000 lots. After striking a 25-year peak on Monday, some traders said they thought a target of $600 an ounce was still in view for both Comex and spot gold.
"At this point in the game, it's all technical. We're still working toward our objective in gold, the initial objective which is $600," a trader said.
On Monday, June gold surged to a peak at $596.80 an ounce the loftiest level for futures since January 1981.
"I don't think the fundamentals or the news is adding that much, unless it's shocking. If it's more of the same or slightly different from what people thought, I don't think it can stop this market.
The market's too strong." a dealer said. Deutsche Bank's global head of commodities research said on Tuesday gold may head beyond $600 and toward $700, boosted by upbeat fundamental factors and by fund buying.
The dollar fell to a two-month low against the euro on Tuesday, as investors expectations for a European interest rate increase were heightened after a news report said the European Central Bank may raise rates at its May meeting.
While the dollar's weakness may have underpinned gold's losses, traders said they thought its influence these days was secondary to technical factors.
"We've somewhat separated from our relationship with the euro. It's one of the things we factor in, but it's not the driving force that it used to be," said one trader.
No major US economic data are due until on Friday's nonfarm payroll report for March. Spot gold lost ground by late on Tuesday and was quoted at $585.90/586.80 an ounce, down from Monday's New York finish at $588.10/589.00.
London fixed gold at $588 an ounce on Tuesday afternoon. May silver closed 3.5 cents lower at $11.73 an ounce, after setting a range of $11.645 and $11.81? On Friday, it soared to $11.94, its highest level since September 1983. Excitement over a potential silver exchange-traded fund has triggered a slew of buying in recent months, said dealers, who still peg $12 as a likely upside target.
Spot silver slipped to $11.66/11.69 and once, from $11.75/78 previously. It was fixed at $11.7450 on Tuesday. Nymex July platinum firmed $2.50 to finish at $1,091.60 an ounce. It hit a 26-year high above $1,105 last week.
Spot platinum fetched $1,078/1,082 an ounce, $5 more than on Monday's late quotes. June palladium lost $4.05 to end at $342.35 an ounce. Last on Thursday, it climbed to a near four-year high at $355.80.
Spot palladium was indicated at $339/343 an ounce, slightly more than on Monday's close.
Comments
Comments are closed.