Investing.com - Gold futures extended sharp losses from the previous session on Tuesday, tumbling to a seven-week low as the prospect of mass downgrades of European sovereign ratings prompted investors to liquidate profitable gold positions and raise liquidity.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,661.45 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, slumping 0.4%.
It earlier fell by as much as 0.75% to trade at USD1,655.05 a troy ounce, the lowest since October 25.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,649.05 a troy ounce, the low of October 25 and resistance at USD1,718.75, the previous day’s high.
Gold prices dropped nearly 2.7% on Monday, its biggest one-day drop in three months as market optimism over last week’s European Union summit faded.
Ratings agency Moody’s said the meetings failed to deliver “decisive policy measures” to end the region’s debt crisis and added that it would revisit ratings of all euro zone member states in the first quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings said the inability by European Union leaders to devise a “comprehensive” fix to the region’s debt crisis had intensified pressure on debt ratings of euro zone nations.
For much of the last year, investors' typical reaction to downbeat news from Europe was to buy gold, as it boosts the safe haven appeal of the precious metal.
But since hitting a record above USD1920 in September, the precious metal has switched from a negative to a positive correlation with risk-senstive assets, such as stocks and industrial commodities, with investors preferring the U.S. dollar as their safe haven of choice.
Europe’s largest lender HSBC Holdings said in a report Monday, "It appears that gold prices are more closely influenced by risk-related trading than by currency-led trading or safe-haven buying."
The lender added that it expected gold prices to remain “on the defensive” in the near-term, citing growing evidence of a “liquidity squeeze" in financial markets and as traders “close books to lock in profit before the end of the year”, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing the volatility.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery rose 0.9% to trade at USD31.25 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery was flat, trading at USD3.465 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,661.45 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, slumping 0.4%.
It earlier fell by as much as 0.75% to trade at USD1,655.05 a troy ounce, the lowest since October 25.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,649.05 a troy ounce, the low of October 25 and resistance at USD1,718.75, the previous day’s high.
Gold prices dropped nearly 2.7% on Monday, its biggest one-day drop in three months as market optimism over last week’s European Union summit faded.
Ratings agency Moody’s said the meetings failed to deliver “decisive policy measures” to end the region’s debt crisis and added that it would revisit ratings of all euro zone member states in the first quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings said the inability by European Union leaders to devise a “comprehensive” fix to the region’s debt crisis had intensified pressure on debt ratings of euro zone nations.
For much of the last year, investors' typical reaction to downbeat news from Europe was to buy gold, as it boosts the safe haven appeal of the precious metal.
But since hitting a record above USD1920 in September, the precious metal has switched from a negative to a positive correlation with risk-senstive assets, such as stocks and industrial commodities, with investors preferring the U.S. dollar as their safe haven of choice.
Europe’s largest lender HSBC Holdings said in a report Monday, "It appears that gold prices are more closely influenced by risk-related trading than by currency-led trading or safe-haven buying."
The lender added that it expected gold prices to remain “on the defensive” in the near-term, citing growing evidence of a “liquidity squeeze" in financial markets and as traders “close books to lock in profit before the end of the year”, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing the volatility.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery rose 0.9% to trade at USD31.25 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery was flat, trading at USD3.465 a pound.