US gold futures seesawed early but ended a tad lower Thursday as a strong dollar and losses in gold exchange-traded fund holdings offset bargain hunting and oil's gains. August settles down 50 cents at $922.30 an ounce on the COMEX division of New York Mercantile Exchange. The session high was $931.40.
Weak energy prices initially hurt bullion's inflation hedge appeal, sending prices to a two-week bottom of $915.90. US crude futures turned to end up $1.05 at $125.49 a barrel.
Investor momentum checked as bullion held by SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to 673.40 tonnes on Wednesday from Tuesday's 690.26 tonnes. Estimated final volume at a heavy 229,905 lots, options turnover at 21,401 lots. COMEX gold futures open interest down 12,650 lots at 462,956 lots as of July 23.
Spot gold at $923.00/924.00 at 2:15 pm EDT (1815 GMT) compared with $921.35/922.95 late Wednesday. September silver ends down 16.0 cents at $17.298 an ounce. Ranged from $17.670 to $17.130, a near three-week low. Estimated final volume at 27,325 lots. Spot silver at $17.34/17.40 compared with $17.33/17.38 late Wednesday.
October platinum closes down $47.00, or 2.7 percent, at $1,713.80 an ounce. Platinum group metals slide on fears that slow global car sales could dampen autocatalyst demand for PGMs. Spot platinum at $1,709.50/1,729.50. September palladium down $5.15, or 1.3 percent, at $387.00 an ounce, following platinum's weakness. Spot palladium at $382.00/390.00.