BLBG: Gold Falls in London as Stronger Dollar Curbs Investment Demand
June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell to the lowest in more than a week as the dollar strengthened, reducing the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment.
The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s value, gained 0.7 percent today after jumping 1.7 percent on June 5, the most in more than four months. Gold, which typically moves inversely to the U.S. currency, slumped 2.6 percent on June 5, the most in two months.
“The dollar is still going to be the main driver” for gold, said Bernard Sin, head of currency and metals trading at Swiss refiner MKS Finance SA, by phone from Geneva. “Any bad news will trigger more selling.”
Bullion for immediate delivery lost $6.63, or 0.7 percent, to $948.63 an ounce by 9:05 a.m. local time. The metal earlier gained as much as 0.5 percent. August gold futures slipped $12.70, or 1.3 percent, to $949.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division.
Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, fell 0.35 metric tons to 1,132.15 tons on June 5, the company’s Web site showed.
Silver for immediate delivery in London lost 2 percent to $14.985 an ounce. Platinum fell 1.9 percent to $1,242.55 an ounce, and palladium was 2.1 percent lower at $252 an ounce.
Platinum held in ETF Securities Ltd.’s exchange-traded commodities rose 4 percent to 310,008 ounces on June 5, from 298,147 ounces the day before, according to data on the company’s Web site. Silver assets fell 0.8 percent to 20.194 million ounces.