BS: Gold Declines for Third Day on Sales to Cover Equity Losses
By Pham-Duy Nguyen
June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures fell for the third straight day on sales by investors to cover losses in other markets.
European equities retreated and U.S. stock futures extended losses after a report showed the U.S. added fewer jobs in May than economists forecast. Gold surged to a record last month on demand for a haven amid the European sovereign-debt crisis.
“Gold will stay under pressure because of asset liquidation,” said Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago. “Gold may not rally out of here, but it may simply stop its decline because there is still a flight-to-quality demand.”
Gold futures for delivery in August dropped $2.20, or 0.2 percent, to $1,207.80 an ounce at 9:17 a.m. on the Comex in New York, heading for a weekly decline. Earlier, the metal touched $1,198.50, the lowest level since May 25.
The metal reached an all-time high of $1,249.70 on May 14 and has outperformed equities, bonds and most commodities this year on demand for a store of value.
Silver futures for July delivery dropped 31.1 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $17.62 an ounce on the Comex.
Platinum futures for July delivery fell $18.60, or 1.2 percent, to $1,524.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Palladium futures for September delivery declined $11.30, or 2.5 percent, to $439.50 an ounce.
--Editors: Patrick McKiernan, Steve Stroth
To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net
