BLBG:Gold Drops From One-Week High on Signs Israeli Fighting May End
Gold declined from a one-week high as a Hamas official said a draft accord with Israel that would end fighting in the Gaza Strip is almost ready, crimping demand for the metal as an investment haven.
An announcement was likely at 9 p.m. Cairo time, and the cease-fire will take effect at midnight, Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official, said by telephone from Beirut. His comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to the region to join truce talks that also include United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon.
“Signs of a cease-fire seems to have taken some blush off gold,” Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago, said in a telephone interview.
Gold futures for December delivery fell 0.6 percent to settle at $1,723.60 an ounce at 1:39 p.m. on the Comex in New York, after reaching $1,736, the highest since Nov. 12. The price has gained 10 percent this year.
Silver futures for December delivery dropped 0.8 percent to $32.93 an ounce in New York, after touching $33.26, the highest since Oct. 18.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, platinum futures for January delivery slid 0.7 percent to $1,573 an ounce. Palladium futures for December delivery retreated 1.1 percent to $638.35 an ounce, the third drop in four sessions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net
