By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures retreated in electronic trading Thursday, as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony to Congress for signs of fresh easing measures to spur economic growth.
Gold futures for delivery in August GCQ2 -0.77% fell $12.10, or 0.7%, to $1,622.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
The possibility of future policy easing from the European Central Bank and the U.S. Fed, along with a weaker dollar, helped send the metal 1.1% higher in the North American session on Wednesday.
Stimulus hopes were further stirred in the U.S. as vice-chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, who indicated in a speech late Wednesday that the door was open for more monetary-policy easing, should economic conditions worsen. Read more on comments from Fed’s Yellen.
Yellen’s words came ahead of Bernanke’s testimony, due later Thursday, with the Fed chief expected to provide more clues on any likely central-bank policy move.
Policy easing tends to encourage investment in gold, as it raises inflationary pressures.
The broader metals complex followed gold lower in electronic trading.
July silver futures SIN2 -1.04% fell 29 cents, or 1%, to $29.20 an ounce.
Copper for July delivery HGN2 -1.01% dropped 1 cent, or 0.3%, to $3.37 a pound.
Platinum PLN2 -0.39% for July delivery lost $7.00, or 0.5%, to $1,462.20 an ounce, while palladium futures September delivery declined $3.90, or 0.6%, to $628.90 an ounce.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
