US gold futures rebounded to finish higher amid heavy volume on Friday after the previous session's sharp sell-off, helped by a reversal of the dollar's strength against the euro and physical buying at lower prices.
Traders said that they still expected gold prices to consolidate and to move higher despite the correction in the past several weeks.
Most-active gold for June delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up $5.30 at $672.30 an ounce, after prices hit a five-week low on Thursday. It traded in a range from $666.30 to $674.30. Andy Montano, a director at bullion dealer ScotiaMocatta, said that a bounce was seen in gold because of buying by bargain hunters.
"Yesterday, we certainly had some liquidation seen on the back of a stronger dollar. And this morning the euro has recovered somewhat on the weaker US PPI figures, and there was some fairly decent physical buying on the marketplace," Montano said.
The dollar fell against the euro after benign US core production prices and a surprising decline in retail sales, signs that bolstered the view of a slowing economy. A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated assets like gold cheaper for investors holding other currencies.
US crude futures were up 34 cents at $62.15 a barrel by afternoon trade, and that helped boost gold because it is widely seen as a hedge against oil-led inflation.
Trading was heavy for a second straight day. COMEX estimated final volume at 99,781 lots and options turnover at 17,891. Turnover in the Chicago Board of Trade's electronically traded 100-oz gold contract was 26,455 lots as of 2:21 pm EDT (1821 GMT).
On Thursday, a rally in the dollar and sales by funds and central banks sent both US gold and silver futures down more than 2 percent in heavy volume, as buyers were largely absent and chart-based sales pushed prices lower. Montano said that Thursday's sell-off did not hurt gold's up-trend.
"I don't see that this is a reversal of anything. We have some consolidation to do before we can go higher," Montano said. Deutsche Bank said in a research note that it was maintaining its bullish outlook on gold despite the recent price correction.
"We believe the US interest rate and exchange rate environment will conspire to push the (spot) gold price toward $750 an ounce over the coming year," Deutsche Bank said. However, the volume of flows into and out of exchange-traded gold funds, an indicator of investor sentiment, showed that prices may need to pause and consolidate before rising again.
The New York-listed StreetTracks gold fund, the world's largest gold ETF, which accounts for about 80 percent of the metal jointly held by such funds, lost more than five tonnes between Wednesday and Thursday.
Spot gold was quoted at $670.60/1.10 an ounce, above a late quote of $667.00/7.50 in New York on Thursday. The London afternoon gold fix was set at $669.00 an ounce. COMEX July silver finished up 16.5 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $13.305 an ounce, traded between $13.025, its weakest level since March 14, and $13.400. Spot silver was quoted at $13.20/3.25, versus $13.04/3.09, its finish late Thursday in New York. The silver fix was set at $13.04 an ounce in London.
In platinum group metals, the annual gathering in London next week for the platinum industry, known as Platinum Week, could attract some buying. July platinum closed up $17.50, or 1.3 percent, at $1,341.70 an ounce. Spot platinum fetched $1,328.00/1,333.00. June palladium also climbed $4.90, or 1.4 percent, to end at $368.65 an ounce. Spot palladium was quoted at $361.00/365.00.