Gold was slightly lower on Wednesday as investors sold to lock in profits after prices hit four-week highs a day earlier in reaction to weaker-than-expected US non-farm payroll data and sold in reaction to a weaker oil market that dragged commodities down. The metal rose nearly 2 percent on Tuesday while the dollar index hit eight-month lows and stock markets rallied, after weak US jobs data cemented expectations for the Federal Reserve to keep its stimulus measures in place until next year.
"Crude oil is having a large impact on the commodities sector, dragging everything down," said Paul Sacks, principal gold trader at Aurum Options Strategies in New York. Profit taking from Tuesday's rally to the market's loftiest level since September 20 also pushed down prices as investors saw little additional upside, analysts said. Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,334.80 an ounce at 12:01 EDT (1601 GMT), after hitting $1,344.46 on Tuesday.
US gold futures for December delivery were down $7.7, or 0.57 percent, at $1,334.7. Commerzbank's technical analysts, who study past price patterns to determine the next likely direction of trade, said gold's rally on Tuesday had neutralised their bearish view on the metal, although it remains vulnerable to further losses. "As long as the 1,330.17/1,349.31 resistance area - July, late September and early October highs and the 55-day moving average - caps on a daily chart closing basis, we will continue to favour the downside," they said in a report.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New York's SPDR Gold Shares, reported an inflow of more than 6 tonnes on Tuesday, its biggest one-day inflow in two months. On Monday it saw an outflow of more than 10 tonnes. Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.04 percent at $22.62 an ounce, having also touched a one-month high on Tuesday at $22.80.
The gold/silver ratio, which measures the number of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, fell to its lowest since mid-September on Wednesday at 59.01 as silver outperformed. Spot platinum was down 0.5 percent at $1,437.00 an ounce, while spot palladium was down 0.34 percent at $748.22 an ounce. It hit a near two-month high of $752.50 on Tuesday.
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