By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures retreated in electronic trading Wednesday in a mixed session for the wider metals complex.
Gold for June delivery GCM2 -0.02% shed $4.00 or 0.2% to trade at $1,656.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
That move places the metal on track to snap a three-session winning streak.
Recent gains were spurred by safe-haven interest after last week’s softer U.S. jobs report and a recent rise in Spanish and Italian borrowing costs worried investors about the health of the global economy.
HSBC analyst Jim Steel argued a shift in focus back to euro-zone debt concerns and a rise in risk aversion is “potentially negative for gold unless bullion becomes more sought-after as a safe haven.”
“Increases in euro-zone debt concerns have triggered capital flows into U.S. treasuries, which in turn boosted the U.S. dollar and weighed on gold. It also weakens other commodities, such as oil, which tend to have a positive price relationship with gold,” Steel wrote in a research note.
However, Steel said the yellow metal may be “decoupling from risk assets and resuming its more traditional role of safe haven.”
The broader metals complex diverged during Asia trading hours, with silver and platinum tracking gold lower.
Silver for May delivery SIK2 -0.06% lost 9 cents, or 0.3%, to $31.59 an ounce.
July platinum PLN2 +0.33% declined $2.60, or 0.2%, to $1,591.10 an ounce, while palladium for June delivery PAM2 +1.09% added $6.65, or 1%, to $643.50 an ounce.
May copper HGK2 +0.25% gained 1 cent, or 0.3%, to $3.66 a pound.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
