Gold fell for a second session Wednesday as stocks and the dollar aimed higher and markets awaited details on a U.S. tax overhaul.
December gold
lost $12.40, or 1%, to trade at $1,289.20 and ounce—poised to mark their lowest settlement since mid-August. The SPDR Gold Trust exchange-traded fund
moved 0.6% lower.
“Gold is currently showing no signs of support. For the second time in as many weeks, the metal is threatening to break the lower bound of key support between $1,290 and $1,295 [for spot pricing], an area which was formerly resistance,” said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst with Forex.com.
The U.S. dollar has extended a strengthening trend, with a key dollar index jumping to a more than one-month high as investors looked ahead to a tax-reform proposal from President Donald Trump. The ICE Dollar Index
which measures the buck against a basket of six other currencies, climbed 0.4% to 93.344, trading around the highest levels since Aug. 23.
A strong dollar makes it more expensive for holders of other currencies to buy dollar-denominated gold.
The greenback found support after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Tuesday reinforced expectations for another U.S. interest-rate increase before the end of the year, which can diminish appetite for gold, which doesn’t bear a yield.
Upbeat data Wednesday helped to support expectations for another rate increase. Durable-goods orders for August came in a better-than expected 1.7% higher, versus an increase for 1%.
U.S. equities also traded mostly higher Wednesday, drawing investor interest away from gold as analysts said the stock market was stabilizing after a four-session skid for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Other metals saw mixed trading. December silver
was at $16.85 an ounce, down 3.3 cents, or 0.2%. The iShares Silver Trust ETF
fell less than 0.1%.
December copper
was up less than a cent at $2.926 a pound. January platinum
shed $1.40, or 0.2%, to $927.10 an ounce. December palladium
traded at $918 an ounce, up $3.55, or 0.4%
