By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Gold prices slid further away from the $1,600-an-ounce level during Asian hours Wednesday, unable to get much support as buying interest was found wanting in thin year-end trade.
The February gold futures contract GC2G -0.45% fell $5.90, or 0.4%, to $1,589.60 an ounce in electronic trading. Prices fell $10.50 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight to stretch their losing streak to a fourth-straight session.
At the current level, gold futures have already skidded more than 9% just this month, squeezing year-to-date gains for the precious metal to under 12%.
The U.S. dollar inched up a little against major currencies, with the ICE dollar index DXY -0.01% trading at 79.801 versus 79.792 in late North American trade Tuesday.
Other precious metals weakened as well, with the March contract for silver SI2H -0.35% dropping 0.2% to $28.69 an ounce, and that for palladium PA2H -0.38% slipping 0.4% to 664.10 an ounce.
April futures for platinum PL2J -0.42% declined 0.4% to $1,431.90 an ounce, while March copper futures HG2H +0.15% , meanwhile, inched up 0.6% to $3.43 a pound.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
