US MIDDAY: gold falls

Gold fell 0.3 percent on Monday, following a four-session winning streak, on selling by traders as they stepped back to consider the prospect of further monetary stimulus ahead of key central-bank meetings this week. The metal logged a 2.5 percent gain last week, its biggest weekly performance in eight, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do whatever necessary to prop up the euro.
ECB insiders said bold actions including resuming ECB's bond-buying program and even pursuing quantitative easing, printing new money to boost asset prices, are at least five weeks away. "Should we not pass upwards of $1,640, should we get Fed disappointment of doing little prior to September, we could have a good setback," said George Gero, vice president of RBC Capital Markets.
The Federal Reserve will deliver its policy statement at the end of its two-day Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday, while the ECB and Bank of England are scheduled to hold policy meetings on Thursday. Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,618.60 an ounce by 12:19 pm EDT (1619 GMT).
US COMEX gold futures for August delivery were down $1 an ounce at $1,617, with trading volume on track to be in line with its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. While the wider markets set gold's direction, underlying demand for the metal remained soft. Buying in major consumer India was lacklustre as high prices in the country, exacerbated by weakness in the rupee, kept local buyers on the sidelines.
The world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), SPDR Gold Trust, reported a fifth consecutive weekly outflow from its holdings on Friday, its longest such run of losses in about 18 months. The fund was on track for its biggest monthly outflow this year in July, of 30.9 tonnes.
Among other precious metals, silver and palladium gained despite gold's losses. The two metals have been underperforming gold so far this year. Silver rose 1.1 percent at $28.03 an ounce, on track for its first monthly gain in five. Its run of four straight monthly losses to June was its longest such streak since 2000. Platinum was down 0.1 percent at $1,401.25 an ounce, while palladium rose 2.4 percent to $585.75 an ounce.