Off the wire
• South African education minister warns against violence during student protests  • Immunotherapy shows promise for advanced lymphoma: study  • U.S. dollar rises on Fed Beige Book  • Oil prices rise amid supply glut, output-freeze expectation  • Irish PM says Apple ruling cannot be allowed to stand  • 3 die in subway tunnel collapse in Tehran  • Chinese medical team hailed in Madagascar  • Kenya woos investors in renewable energy  • Roundup: UN chief calls for join efforts to promote universal literacy for peaceful, sustainable world  • Gambia warns against violence ahead of poll  
You are here: 　 Home

Gold down on profit taking

Xinhua, September 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday as profit-taking put pressure on the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 4.8 U.S. dollars, or 0.35 percent, to settle at 1,349.2 dollars per ounce.

Traders took profits after gold hit a three-week high, driving the price of the precious metal down, despite a lack of positive news to match the price pressure.

The U.S. Dollar Index also put pressure on the precious metal as it rose by 0.10 to 94.96 as of 1745 GMT. 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.

However analysts believe that this is likely what traders call a "dead cat bounce" as the U.S. dollar fell sharply one day earlier and the market is correcting itself.

There was slight strength in the U.S. Department of Labor' s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released on Wednesday, but analysts believe that it was not enough to inspire optimism in investors.

The report shows job openings increasing to 5.871 million during the month of July, but it is unlikely that this report will outweigh the low expectations from the big jobs report for August.

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George also spoke on Wednesday but did not have any impact on expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike.

Current expectations are that the Fed may raise rates from 0.50 to 0.75 during the December FOMC meeting. According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to 0.75 is at 18 percent at the September 2016 meeting, 23 percent at the November 2016 meeting, and 52 percent at the December meeting.

Silver for December delivery dropped 29 cents, or 1.44 percent, to close at 19.848 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery fell 9.9 dollars, or 0.9 percent, to close at 1,092.8 dollars per ounce. Endit