MW: Gold loses ground again as data anticipation builds
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Gold bid farewell to a nice win streak to end last week and on Monday, losses looked set to build as equities drew buyers, pushing the precious metal lower.
Gold for April delivery GCJ5, -1.03% shed $11.30, or 1%, to $1,188.30 an ounce. May silver SIK5, -1.69% lost 29 cents, or 1.7%, to $16.78 an ounce.
During its seven-session climb, which came to a halt on Friday, gold tallied a total gain of 4.9% thanks to weakness in the stock market and uncertainty overseas. U.S. stock futures were climbing on Monday morning, on the heels of marginal gains for markets Friday, which still notched their biggest weekly loss since the end of February.
Elsewhere, May copper HGK5, +0.27% added a penny to $2.78 a pound. April platinum PLJ5, -1.16% fell $12.40, or 1%, to $1,131.20 an ounce. June palladium PAM5, +0.52% rose 1 cent to $742.45 an ounce, after losing around 4.9% last week.
HSBC analysts say that just as global unease can perk up demand for gold, as happened earlier last week, they can also provide a drag once investors look elsewhere.
“Gold historically rallies during bouts of rising geopolitical tensions, but these gains tend to be very fast moving and can be easily given back once the market shifts its focus away from the issues,” they said. “However, for the time being, gold is likely to remain sensitive to Middle East developments.”
Traders will spend much of this holiday-shortened week looking ahead to the March U.S. jobs data due Friday, but there is plenty of other data on hand that will come into play, like February’s core personal consumption index due out later Monday. See the Economic Calendar.
