Off the wire
• Portugal's unemployment rate rises to 13.7 pct in Q1 2015  • FLASH: NETANYAHU STRIKES COALITION DEAL WITH ULTRA-RIGHTWING PARTY, CLEARING LAST HURDLE TO FORMING NEW CABINET: REPORT  • Political differences delayed quick response to Ebola crisis: officials  • Urgent: U.S. dollar falls against other currencies  • Greek assembly passes bill on rehiring public servants  • Finnish fighter jets to participate in Arctic exercise  • IMF official welcomes China-proposed AIIB in Middle East, Central Asia  • Roundup: Increase of IDPs reflects changing nature of global conflict  • Two Tanzanian army officers killed in DR Congo  • Urgent: Oil prices rise on falling U.S. supplies  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: Gold settles lower on Fed comments

Xinhua, May 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled lower on Wednesday as two key Federal Reserve officials played down concerns over a slowdown in the U.S. economy amid a flurry of anemic economic data.

The most active gold contract for June delivery lost 2.9 U.S. dollars, or 0.24 percent, to settle at 1,190.30 dollars per ounce.

Gold came under pressure as U.S. central bank Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday indicated that she was not concerned about the latest round of lackluster economic data, saying that the economy was still on track. However, she noted that she sees danger in high equity market valuations.

Yellen also said that she cannot see any bubbles forming, and the risk to economic stability was moderated but not elevated.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said separately Wednesday he is "not overly concerned" with weak growth in the first quarter, according to Marketwatch.

A decline in the U.S. dollar index prevented the precious metal from falling further, as the index fell by 1.12 percent 94.07 in midday trading session. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

Silver for July delivery fell 7.3 cents, or 0.44 percent, to close at 16.506 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery fell 6 dollars, or 0.52 percent, to close at 1,142.80 dollars per ounce. Endite