Gold slipped on Thursday as the euro plummeted against the dollar after the European Central Bank cut interest rates to record lows and said it would launch an asset purchase program to ward off deflation. "While an environment of easier global monetary policies tends to be friendly for bullion, gold and the euro have a historical positive correlation," said James Steel, chief precious metals analyst at HSBC.
Spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,263.66 an ounce by 2:58 pm EDT (1858 GMT), having earlier risen as high as $1,276.50. US COMEX December gold futures settled down $3.80 an ounce at $1,266.50, with trading volume about 20 percent above its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Among other precious metals, platinum rose 0.1 percent to $1,403.49 an ounce, and palladium gained 1.6 percent to $885.75 an ounce. The metals, used in auto manufacturing, were lifted as US auto sales reached their highest August level in more than a decade. Spot silver fell 0.3 percent to $19.08 an ounce.