Investing.com – Gold futures extended losses in Asian trade Friday, as higher trading fees set in for dealers ahead of a much-anticipated speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,764.75 a troy ounce during early Asian trade, down USD4.80 or 0.27%.
Late Wednesday, the CME Group Inc. announced it would be raising the amount of money needed to trade a gold contract for the second time this month, hiking the fee by 27%.
The CME, operator of the Comex, increased the so-called initial margin to USD9,450 per contract from USD7,425, in an effort to thin the market of speculative investors who must pay a higher fee to trade a futures contract.
Gold futures sank as much as 5% in the two days following the August 11 CME margin hike.
Investors meanwhile, await the outcome of a meeting of U.S. Federal Reserve officials in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for possible signs that the Fed may take additional measures to stimulate the faltering U.S. economy.
“As expectations of what Fed Chairman Bernanke can say at Jackson Hole tomorrow are scaled back, gold should be one of the assets that reacts most," UBS said in a report earlier Thursday.
"But there is also a positive aspect to this, in that gold appears to have already discounted disappointment at Jackson Hole."
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery fell 0.51% to trade at USD40.85 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery eased 0.05% to trade at USD4.088 a pound.