By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Gold futures declined in electronic trade during Asian hours Monday, extending their slide after recent advances, as the U.S. dollar strengthened against the backdrop of worries over European debt troubles.
The precious metal’s Comex contract for February delivery GC2G -0.31% lost $7.80, or 0.5%, to $1,609 an ounce.
The losses came on top of a decline for gold during the regular session on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, when it snapped a four-session winning streak as the greenback rose against the euro after stronger-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data. See report on Friday moves for gold.
The U.S. dollar index DXY +0.10% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose to 81.383 Monday from 81.244 in North America late Friday.
The drop in gold also came as Asian stocks suffered broad declines. Read Asia Markets.
Among other metals, March copper futures HG2H -1.19% lost 0.8% to $3.41 a pound, and palladium for delivery in the same month PA2H -0.61% dropped 0.7% to $509.50 an ounce.
April platinum futures PL2J -0.09% declined 0.6% to $1,399.90 an ounce, while March silver futures SI2H +0.08% added 0.2% to $28.73 an ounce.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
