Stronger Dollar Cutting Investment Demand To Affect Gold Prices

Gold may decline in New York as a stronger dollar cuts investment demand and as prices near a seven-week high curb physical purchases.

Photo: Stronger Dollar Cutting Investment Demand To Affect Gold Prices

The dollar climbed to a five-week high against the euro after European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said the ECB should keep stimulus measures in place through the end of the year. Bullion usually moves inversely to the greenback. Gold reached $1,239.50 an ounce yesterday and is trading 2.6 percent below a record. Holdings in the biggest gold-backed exchange- traded fund rose for a third day yesterday, BusinessWeek says.

Gold futures hit a seven-week high Thursday after a spate of disappointing jobs and business-conditions data weighed on market sentiment and bolstered demand for safe-haven assets. Holdings in the SPDR gold trust rose by four metric tons, to a total of 1,299 tons.

Other precious metals were trading lower, in line with other industrial metals. Spot silver was at $18.22 a troy ounce, down 0.6%, spot platinum was at $1,514 an ounce, down 0.9%, and spot palladium was 1.5% lower at $479.50 an ounce, Wall Street Journal informs.