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Gold futures drop to 1-week low, tracking euro lower

Published 04/17/2012, 10:18 AM
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Investing.com - Gold futures moved lower during U.S. morning trade on Tuesday, slumping to a one-week low as market participants took cues from the currency market amid ongoing concerns over Spain’s debt woes.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at USD1,638.05 a troy ounce during early U.S. trade, shedding 0.71%.      

It earlier fell by as much as 1% to trade at USD1,635.45 a troy ounce, the lowest since April 10.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,613.55 a troy ounce, the low from April 4 and resistance at USD1,685.25, the high from April 2.

Market participants noted that gold’s losses accelerated at the start of the U.S. trading session, after prices broke below a key support level just below USD1,650, triggering fresh sell orders amid bearish chart signals.

Gold prices held steady in range bound trade throughout most of the day, as traders looked to the currency market for price direction.

Prices have been tracking movements in the euro in recent weeks. Gold remains more sensitive to moves in the euro/dollar exchange rate in the short term than to rising risk aversion, which in the past has been a positive driver of prices.

The single currency found support earlier in the day after an auction of short-term Spanish government debt met with solid investor demand, while better-than-expected data on German economic sentiment also boosted risk appetite.

Bond auctions have become key drivers of risk sentiment in recent months, as traders attempt to gauge the ability of indebted euro zone nations to fund themselves.

There have been renewed concerns of further debt contagion in the euro zone in recent weeks amid fears Spain will be the next in the euro zone to require a bailout.

But the U.S. dollar regained strength against the euro as concerns over the region's debt crisis persisted.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, eased up 0.04% to trade at 79.77, after being down by as much as 0.21%.

Although gold’s appeal as a safe haven is boosted during times of economic uncertainty, the euro zone’s debt crisis has done little to bolster appetite for the precious metal in recent months.

A weakening euro and stronger dollar have weighed on gold instead.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for May delivery rose 0.47% to trade at USD31.52 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery dipped 0.1% to trade at USD3.623 a pound.

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