Tokyo gold futures plunged by their daily limit on Wednesday due to liquidation by Japanese investors as overall market sentiment was undermined by a stronger dollar and recent falls in oil prices. Heavy technical sales hammered down Tokyo Commodity Exchange gold futures, reflecting sharp falls in spot gold the previous day in other regions' markets.
"This is purely a technical correction as gold has been overbought recently," said Takashi Ogura, a risk management section manager at Kanetsu Asset Management.
"We may see more technical sales, but gold will be well protected as there are plenty of bargain-hunters willing to buy based on its bullish underlying fundamentals."
Key June TOCOM gold closed at 2,422 yen a gram, down by its daily 60-yen limit, or 2.42 percent, from Tuesday's settlement. It was pegged at the level throughout the day.
Other contracts also fell by their daily 60-yen limit, except for the limitless spot August contract, which closed down 75 yen at 2,371 yen. The key contract held above its seven-day moving average of 2,410 yen, but further profit-taking could emerge as many Japanese investors were believed to have taken new buy positions around Tuesday's low of 2,445 yen. Market bears now fear TOCOM gold could face resistance when it climbs back towards this.
Mounting global security tensions have intensified safe-haven buying in gold prices since last week. On Friday, TOCOM gold peaked at 2,497 yen, the highest since May 18. It had climbed about 8 percent last week.
Although concern remained high over the continued hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, traders were keen to lighten overbought positions built over the past week by pricing in factors such as the dollar's recovery and falls in oil prices.
On Tuesday in New York, gold pulled back after the dollar rallied to near three-month highs on data showing US producer prices rose in June, backing a view that the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates to combat inflation.
"The basic fundamentals for gold remain bullish as the market's focus is on geopolitical matters. I feel the market will find support after finishing a technical correction," Ogura said.
At 0641 GMT, spot gold was at $627.00/628.00 per ounce, down from $630.30/631.30 late Tuesday in New York. Gold hit a two-month high of $676 an ounce on Monday on safe-haven buying. But profit-taking and a firming dollar later erased much of the gains. Most contracts of TOCOM platinum futures and silver futures dropped by their daily limits by the close, mainly tracking falls in gold.