Precious metals stabilise on weak trading

Gold traded little changed amid speculation that the metal's decline to the lowest level in more than six weeks will attract some investors.

Gold for immediate delivery added as much as 0.4 per cent to $1,097.42 an ounce and traded at $1,094.13 an ounce in Singapore. The contract for February delivery in New York slipped 0.1 per cent to $1,094.10.

Bullion, which typically moves counter to the dollar, lost 7.3 per cent this month as the dollar gained 4.2 per cent against a basket of six currencies.

Gold, up 24 per cent this year, is headed for a ninth annual gain. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust rose 6.1 tonnes to 1,132.71 tonnes on Monday, its website showed. They climbed to a record 1,134 tonnes on June 1.

"We do not believe this fall is entirely due to movements in the dollar," Eugen Weinberg, a senior analyst with Commerzbank AG, wrote in a report. "It is more likely that speculative interest in gold has increased. We now believe the probable year-end gold price will be around $1,050."

Among other precious metals, silver decreased 0.3 per cent to $16.9750 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.2 per cent to $1,414.25 an ounce and palladium was little changed at $363.25 an ounce.

 

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