By Claudia Assis and Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures traded lower Monday, giving back some of the sharp gains of last week on optimism about more U.S stimulus.
Gold for December delivery GCZ2 -0.43% declined $8.70, or 0.5%, to $1,731.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold soared 2.1% on Friday to settle at $1,740.50 an ounce, its highest settlement since late February. The metal rose 3.1% in the previous week, supported by easing hopes and by the European Central Bank’s plan to assist struggling euro-zone economies through bond purchases.
Gold has a traditional role as a store of value and thrives on fears of currency debasement and inflation.
Analysts last week were optimistic about gold’s run, although they had warned profit-taking would be expected.
“[The] decisions have underlined the ECB’s willingness to do everything it can to rescue the euro. Since this will inevitably result in higher inflation, gold should profit,” said commodity strategists at Commerzbank.
Also helping gold last week, data out Friday showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 96,000 in August, well below market estimates for about 125,000.
The data stoked hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve would launch a third round of large-scale asset purchases at its meeting later this week.
Copper for December delivery HGZ2 +1.11% rose 5 cents, or 1.3%, to $3.69 per pound, holding on to gains from last week. December silver SIZ2 -0.52% tracked gold lower, off 15 cents, or 0.4%, to $33.55 an ounce.
Platinum for October delivery PLV2 -0.18% declined $3, or 0.2%, to $1593.80 an ounce, and the December contract for sister metal palladium PAZ2 +0.71% rose $4.40, or 0.7%, to $659.15 an ounce.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
