MW: Gold falls, set for fourth-straight losing session
By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures fell Thursday as some upbeat U.S. economic data dulled the metal’s safe haven appeal, but reports that German leaders may postpone the European summit scheduled for this weekend helped limit declines.
Gold for December delivery GC1Z -2.14% shed $23, or 1.4%, to trade at $1,624 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract touched a low of $1,607.90.
“Gold is down in large part to investment selling,” said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at Telvent DTN. “Global economics remain iffy, with Greece back in the news today.”
Futures prices have already tallied a three-session loss of $36.
In economic news Thursday, manufacturing in the Philadelphia region showed signs of recovery in October, with the Philly Fed diffusion index up at 8.7, from a negative 17.5 in September. Read morre about the Philly Fed index.
The Conference Board also reported that leading indicators climbed 0.2% in September, matching the forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch.
Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that applications for unemployment fell by 6,000 to 403,000 last week.
Existing home sales fell 3% in September to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.91 million, according to the National Association of Realtors — generally in line with consensus expectations.
Gold’s declines come as reports emerged Thursday that there may be a delay for the European Union summit that had been scheduled for the weekend.
Euro-zone leaders also have not made any substantial progress in hammering out a deal to tackle the sovereign debt crisis in the region, with media reports saying that Germany and France disagree on how to boost the firepower of the euro-zone’s rescue fund.
“Unlike before, investors aren’t looking to gold as a safe-haven market,” said Newsom. “Some are moving to the dollar on ideas the euro will continue to weaken. Gold is establishing a solid downtrend that could be difficult to break out of short-term.”
Other metals tracked gold lower, with copper the biggest decliner.
December copper HG1Z -6.12% lost 9 cents, or 2.9%, to $3.16 a pound and December silver SI1Z -3.54% shed 23 cents, or 0.7%, to trade at $31.05 an ounce.
January platinum PL2F -2.28% was down $29.70, or 2%, to $1,493.40 an ounce. December palladium PA1Z -4.22% was off $11.40, or 1.9%, at $597 an ounce.
