By Claudia Assis and Chris Oliver, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures veered between small gains and losses Monday with investors seen as cautious after recent volatility and ahead of a thin data calendar.
Gold for April delivery GCJ2 +0.51% was a penny down at $1,655.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It lost 3.3% the previous week as mostly upbeat U.S. macroeconomic data cut down on the metal‘s safe haven appeal.
Gold “is unlikely to make much progress from here with market participants cautious after volatility in the past week and with few macro numbers today. We expect some more consolidation at the start of the week,” analysts at VTB Capital said in a note to clients Monday.
Money managers cut their net long positions, or bets gold will go higher, for the second week in a row, according to data released Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Money managers “can be seen as partly responsible for the recent decrease in the price of gold ... What is more, we may also see a weakening of physical demand,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a note to clients.
India last week decided to raise import duties on gold for a second time, and the Bombay Bullion Association has expressed demand concerns for gold in India, recently surpassed by China as the world’s largest consumer of the metal.
The association expects the rise in gold prices with the higher duties will see imports plummet 35% this year, as quoted by Commerzbank. In contrast, local gold retailers expect the increase in duties to have virtually no impact on demand.
“Lower physical gold demand could block any renewed climb in price,” Commerzbank analysts said.
Among other metals, silver traded lower while copper and platinum were in the black. May silver SIK2 +0.95% was off 3 cents, or 0.1%, at $32.54 per ounce. Copper for the same month HGK2 +0.85% gained 2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.90 a pound.
April platinum PLJ2 +0.44% rose $1.60, or 0.1%, to $1,677.10 an ounce. Platinum last week regained its status as the priciest metal. Platinum is usually more expensive than gold and traditionally fetches higher prices, but it had changed hands for less than gold beginning mid year 2011.
