MW: Gold falls as dollar rises, euro hits four-year low
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Gold futures fell on Friday, feeling the pinch of a rising dollar as the euro hit a fresh four-year low and as stocks and other commodities slumped following a disappointing jobs report.
Gold for August delivery retreated $2, or 0.2%, to $1,207.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Other metals took gold's lead, with copper leading the retreat.
Continued investor interest in the metal has given prices a floor. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 117.58, -0.38, -0.32%) , the largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, notched another record on Thursday, the latest available day for which data is available. The ETF reported holdings of 1,289.84 metric tons (1,421.80 short tons), up from 1,268.54 metric tons (1,398.32 short tons) on Wednesday.
Overall, holdings in the 19 exchange-traded products linked by gold that Barclays Capital tracks reached a record of 2,030 metric tons (2,237 short tons), Barclays analysts said in a note to clients on Friday.
"Investment demand in gold remains ripe," they said, adding that holdings are concentrated on SPDR Gold.
Friday also saw reports of declining supply for gold, providing further support. Gold mine producing in South Africa, the world's top gold producer, decreased 15% in the first quarter of the year and 12% compared to the same period in 2009, analysts at Commerzbank reported in a note Friday. This is likely to "impede a further price decrease," they said.
The dollar index (DXY 87.69, +0.56, +0.64%) , meanwhile, was 0.7% higher at 87.75. The euro traded hands at $1.204. The stock market opened lower, as the jobs report all investors were looking for missed the mark. Read more about stocks.
The Labor Department said Friday the economy added 431,000 jobs, the fastest pace in a decade, but Census hiring inflated the numbers and economists had expected payrools to rise by more than half a million jobs.
Meanwhile, copper for July delivery lost 9 cents, or 3%, to $2.86 a pound. Silver for July delivery retreated 33 cents, or 1.8%, to $17.91 an ounce.
