US gold futures finished sharply lower for a second straight day on Thursday as funds liquidated long positions, and as bullion failed to attract any flight-to-quality buying as a wave of risk aversion swept through financial markets.
Sales related to gold futures option expirations and rollover of contracts also weighed heavily on the market, dealers said. "This is not about a commodity. This is not about gold. This is about investors getting out of everything," said Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois.
Most-active gold for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down $11.0, or 1.6 percent, at $662.80 an ounce, which marked the weakest finish since July 11.
It hit a high of $677.40. In an unusual departure from Thursday's trading ranges, the Comex August contract briefly touched a low of $652.80 as one trade was triggered on the electronic platform at about $10 below the trading price at that time, a source from the Comex floor said. Trading was heavy on Thursday. Comex estimated final volume was at a heavy 249,180 lots, including 41,922 switches, and gold options at 13,464.
Turnover at Chicago Board of Trade's electronic 100-oz gold futures was 45,356 lots at 2:31 pm. US stocks sold off on Thursday, extending sharp losses from Wednesday, with two major indexes down more than 3 percent, as jittery investors fled riskier assets on signs of more deterioration in the US housing market.
The yen surged on Thursday, climbing to three-month highs against the dollar, as investors spooked by growing problems in the credit markets exited risky assets financed by borrowing in the low-yielding Japanese currency. The dollar fell further against the yen after June US new home sales came in below expectations. Sales of new US homes fell 6.6 percent in June to a lower-than-expected level and prices slumped from May.
On Wednesday, gold futures also finished $11 lower as a sharp recovery in the dollar prompted heavy sales. Traders cited sales in gold futures because of Thursday's gold futures option expirations, and ahead of August gold contracts' first notice day next Tuesday. Option expirations added volatility to the market, while investors have to decide whether to roll the current benchmark August contracts into the next-active December futures, creating extra buzz in the marketplace.
George Gero, vice president of RBC Capital Markets Global Futures in New York, said that the wide spread between the August and December contracts weighed on prices.
December gold finished at $675.10 on Thursday, about $12 above the settlement of August futures. "Gold is probably going to straighten out next week after the roll-over and the option expirations," Gero said. "If the equity market doesn't really stabilise, I think gold has a better shot of going up all over again," he added.
At 2:50 pm, spot gold was quoted at $660.90/661.70 an ounce, sharply lower than $674.40/675.20 late on Wednesday. The London afternoon gold fix was $670.00. In mining news, South Africa's biggest mining union cancelled wage talks due on Thursday with Anglo Platinum Ltd because the miner was apparently not prepared to substantially change its offer, a union official said.
The platinum market has been jittery on the prospect of a strike in South Africa, which accounts for three-quarters of the world's platinum supply. Nymex October platinum eased $2.80 to end at $1,328.10 an ounce. Spot platinum fetched $1,315/1,319 an ounce.
September palladium finished 25 cents lower at $368.05 an ounce. Spot palladium was quoted at $364/368 an ounce. Comex September silver closed down 20.0 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $12.950 an ounce, trading between $12.755 and $13.235. Spot silver was quoted at $12.72/12.77 an ounce, compared with $13.08/13.13 late on Wednesday. London silver was fixed at $13.13.
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