Gold futures fell Monday, briefly dropping below $920 an ounce, as U.S. stocks rose ahead of data that could show some stabilization in the housing market, thus reducing gold's investment appeal as a safe asset.
Gold for June delivery fell $9.80, or 1.1%, to $921.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped to as low as $919 earlier. The June gold contract ended last week's trading up 1.8%.
A survey Monday from the National Association of Home Builders is expected to show another month of improvement and could be at its highest level since last June. On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is expected to report construction on new homes and apartments may have risen modestly in April. See full story.
Gold is "once again characterized by more of an economic recovery anticipation motivation and less of a safe-haven-oriented one," said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc.
U.S. builder Lowe's Cos. (LOW 19.84, +1.39, +7.53%) reported Monday a first-quarter profit that dropped a smaller-than-expected 22%. See full story.
Analysts expect home-improvement leader Home Depot Inc. (HD 25.74, +1.34, +5.50%) may also show a smaller-than-expected profit decline when it reports financial results on Tuesday.
In currencies trading, the dollar rose against the Japanese yen and the euro on Monday. A stronger dollar tends to put downward pressure on dollar-denominated gold prices.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the biggest ETF backed by gold, stood at 1,105.62 tons on Friday, unchanged for a third session, according to the latest data from the fund.
SPDR Gold fell 1.3% to $90.32 on Monday.
In other metals trading, July copper rose 3.9 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.0565 a pound. The metal ended last week down 6%.
Copper inventories at London Metal Exchange warehouses stood at 357,800 metric tons as of Friday, down 12,850 tons from the day before, according to the exchange.
July silver fell 22.5 cents, or 1.6%, to $13.785 an ounce. June palladium slid $1.15, or 0.5%, to $225.80 an ounce. The July contract for platinum gained $13.50, or 1.2%, to $1,122.50 an ounce.
