Gold prices extended early losses to fall below $1,350 an ounce on Thursday, hitting their lowest in two months, as the euro surrendered gains to turn negative versus the dollar, and as investment demand waned. Gold's slide and losses in other commodities also weighed on silver, which slipped nearly 5 percent to a seven-week low.
Spot gold fell as low as $1,342.65 an ounce, its weakest since November 19, and was bid at $1,346.45 an ounce at 1605 GMT, against $1,370.05 late in New York on Wednesday. US gold futures for February delivery fell $24.00 to $1,346.20.
The precious metal fell in early trade after Chinese inflation data showed price pressures were growing more than expected and could prompt the government to step up its approach to tightening monetary policy. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, continued to decline, falling to 1,251.433 tonnes on January 19, its lowest since May 2010.
Its holdings are down more than 29 tonnes so far this year, data on the fund's website showed. Elsewhere silver, which rose by more than 80 percent in price last year due largely to continuous investment, also came under pressure following another outflow of metal from top silver ETF iShares Silver Trust.
Silver was last down 4.1 percent at $27.58 an ounce and has fallen around 11 percent so far this month, putting it on track for its largest monthly slide since June 2009. "Silver (exchange-traded product) flows have started the year on a weak note, with outflows yesterday of 17 tonnes taking total net redemptions for January to 317 tonnes, completely offsetting the inflows recorded in the full month of December," said Barclys Capital in a note. Platinum meanwhile fell after two consecutive days of rallies that took the price to its highest since July 2008. Platinum was at $1,797.99 an ounce against $1,830.99, while palladium was at $800.47 against $811.97.
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