Gold Investors May Cash in on Bullion
Thursday, August 6th, 2009Gold, little changed in New York and London today, may decline on speculation that some investors will sell bullion to lock in gains from its rally to the highest in two months. Now people looking to sell scrap gold will not make as much of a profit.
Gold futures reached $972.70 an ounce yesterday, the highest since June 5. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, was little changed near a 10- month low after a private report showed U.S. companies eliminated fewer jobs in July than the month before.
“Light profit-taking has been seen overnight,” James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, said today in a note. He predicted “further resistance around and above $965 as investors switch capital back into riskier assets, while scrap flows could pick up.”
Gold futures for December delivery lost $3.20, or 0.3 percent, to $966.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division by 8:27 a.m. local time. Bullion for immediate delivery in London slipped 0.3 percent to $964.22 an ounce.
The metal rose to $964.50 an ounce in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell production, from $960.50 at yesterday’s afternoon fixing. Spot prices last traded above $1,000 an ounce in February.
Bullion futures added 2.8 percent last month as the dollar index lost 2.2 percent. Gold typically moves inversely to the U.S. currency. The MSCI World Index of shares slipped as much as 0.3 percent today after four straight advances.
SPDR Holdings
Metals will remain “reliant on further dollar weakness and equity strength to fuel additional gains,” Moore said.
Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, was unchanged for a fourth day at 1,072.9 metric tons yesterday, the company’s Web site showed. The fund reached a record 1,134.03 tons on June 1.
“The main driver of the recent move in gold seems to be dollar weakness, rather than a surge in investor buying,” John Reade, UBS AG’s head metals strategist in London, said today in a report. “Jewelry demand remains very quiet.”