GF: Gold retreats as equities rally, oil bounces 5 per cent
LONDON: Gold fell on Friday as hints of more monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank weighed on the euro and pushed European shares up 2.5 per cent, denting appetite for alternative assets, while oil rebounded.
Benchmark Brent crude, whose slide to 12-year lows this week fuelled risk aversion, bounced 5.3 per cent on Friday as traders cashed in on record short positions.
That fed into better appetite for assets seen as higher risk, such as stocks, and weighed on gold.
Spot gold was down 0.5 per cent at $1,096.20 (Dh4,026) an ounce at 1030 GMT, while US gold futures for February delivery were down 60 cents an ounce at $1,097.60.
“Gold has eased off from its $1,100 mark as the president of the ECB spurred some appetite for riskier assets,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, said.
