Gold slips in Asia

Gold slipped again below $900 an ounce on Thursday, under pressure from a stronger US dollar that helped push oil lower and weakened bullion's appeal both as an anti-inflation tool and an alternative currency. Spot gold was quoted at $897.20/898.20 an ounce by 0620 GMT, down from $899.65/901.05 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday.
"A firmer dollar and weaker oil are two negatives for gold. So gold could easily underperform oil," said Mark Pervan, senior commodities analyst with ANZ. "If oil falls 3-4 percent this week, gold could fall 4-5 percent," Pervan added, predicting that gold prices could fall to $880 an ounce by the end of this week, and $850 next week before bottoming out.
Gold has already fallen more than $35 an ounce from last week's $935.30-high, which was its highest in a month, and came after oil hit an all-time peak of $135.09 a barrel.
The dollar rose on Thursday, clawing back toward a two-week high hit in the previous session after better-than-expected US durable goods orders eased concerns about the US economic outlook. The dollar index, which measures the dollar's value against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.34 percent to 72.781, after having gained around 0.3 percent on Wednesday.
The stronger dollar also added a bearish tone to oil prices, which have failed to reach new records for a week as several developing nations in Asia have cut subsidies, possibly prompting a drop in Asian energy demand. Front-month US crude for July delivery was down 72 cents at $130.21 a barrel on the Globex electronic trading platform by 0340 GMT.
Gold tends to move in line with oil prices as dearer crude boosts bullion's appeal as a hedge against inflation. "Physical demand was a bit slow last week. But it is better now with gold prices lower", Chu said, adding that demand from most Asian buyers, such as Indonesia, was on the rise. Spot platinum fell to $2,037/2,057 an ounce from $2,059/2,079 late in New York. Spot silver was steady at $17.36/17.43 an ounce from $17.37/17.43 an ounce. Spot palladium was slightly down at $431/436 an ounce, from $432/$440.