By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell as far as $14 an ounce Monday in electronic trading on Globex afternoon in Asia, poised to give back Friday's gain as news of a plan to prevent the spread of the Greek debt crisis dulled gold's investment appeal.
By the early Asian afternoon, Gold for June delivery was down $13, or 1.1%, to $1,197.40 an ounce on Globex, after touching an intraday low of $1,196.10 in electronic trading.
The contract on Friday settled $13.10 higher, or 1.1%, at $1,210.40 an ounce. That was a five-month high for the metal, and futures prices were closing in on the Dec. 3 all-time settlement record of $1,217.40 an ounce, with prices buoyed by the potential for a European debt crisis. See Friday's Metals Stocks column.
"I expected a correction this week just on technicals alone," said Ed Bugos, director of mining finance at Strategic Metals Research and Capital. "But a rebound in stocks will help push [gold] lower too."
In afternoon trading in Asia, most major stock markets were moving higher in the wake of Friday's weakness. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average added 1.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.3% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.9%.
In a newsletter issued Monday morning, Mark Leibovit, chief market strategist for VRTrader.com, said "gold remains in a bull market and like all bull markets will at some point experience a correction -- perhaps even a sharp correction."
