Investing.com – Gold futures trimmed gains on Tuesday, pulling back from an all-time high after better-than-expected data on U.S. service sector activity, but the precious metal was expected to remain well-supported amid fears over the global economic outlook.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,900.65 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, climbing 1.4%.
It earlier rose as much as 2.5% to trade at an all-time high of USD1,921.05 a troy ounce, eclipsing the previous high of USD1,917.90 a troy ounce it hit on August 23.
The U.S. Institute of Supply Management said earlier that its non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose by 0.6 points to 53.3 in August from 52.7 in July. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 51.0 in August.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates the non-manufacturing sector economy is generally expanding, below 50.0 indicates the sector is contracting.
Gold futures rallied to a record earlier as a combination of concerns over the outlook for global growth and mounting worries that the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis is worsening boosted the safe haven appeal of the precious metal.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned earlier that a Greek exit from the euro zone could trigger “a dangerous domino-effect", while worries over rising debt levels in Italy saw the cost of insuring Italian sovereign debt against default rise above that of Spain for the first time since December 2009 on Monday.
A widespread Italian strike was scheduled for Tuesday to protest against government austerity measures.
Meanwhile, Russia’s central bank plans to purchase approximately three tons of gold this week, according to a central bank official.
Russia bought 4.42 tons of gold in July, taking its total holdings of the precious metal to 841.13 tonnes.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery fell 0.91% to trade at USD42.67 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery shed 0.36% to trade USD4.045 a pound.
Comex floor trading was shut Monday for the Labor Day holiday and electronic trades will be booked with today’s transactions for settlement purposes.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,900.65 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, climbing 1.4%.
It earlier rose as much as 2.5% to trade at an all-time high of USD1,921.05 a troy ounce, eclipsing the previous high of USD1,917.90 a troy ounce it hit on August 23.
The U.S. Institute of Supply Management said earlier that its non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose by 0.6 points to 53.3 in August from 52.7 in July. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 51.0 in August.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates the non-manufacturing sector economy is generally expanding, below 50.0 indicates the sector is contracting.
Gold futures rallied to a record earlier as a combination of concerns over the outlook for global growth and mounting worries that the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis is worsening boosted the safe haven appeal of the precious metal.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned earlier that a Greek exit from the euro zone could trigger “a dangerous domino-effect", while worries over rising debt levels in Italy saw the cost of insuring Italian sovereign debt against default rise above that of Spain for the first time since December 2009 on Monday.
A widespread Italian strike was scheduled for Tuesday to protest against government austerity measures.
Meanwhile, Russia’s central bank plans to purchase approximately three tons of gold this week, according to a central bank official.
Russia bought 4.42 tons of gold in July, taking its total holdings of the precious metal to 841.13 tonnes.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery fell 0.91% to trade at USD42.67 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery shed 0.36% to trade USD4.045 a pound.
Comex floor trading was shut Monday for the Labor Day holiday and electronic trades will be booked with today’s transactions for settlement purposes.