Gold Dips Further On Fresh Taper Fears

Gold futures on Wednesday extended the prior session’s losses, testing monthly lows amid mounting speculation that U.S. monetary stimulus could start slowing as early as next month.

By midday in East Asia, December gold  was down $2.20, or 0.2%, to $1,269 an ounce.

Silver for the same month  gave up 8 cents, or 0.4%, to $20.70 an ounce.

A day earlier, gold futures declined to their lowest level in a month, as Federal Reserve officials suggested that the central bank may move to cut back its bond-buying program as early as December.

On the economic front, three budget-related items were on the calendar for Wednesday, including the U.S. Treasury’s release of its monthly budget figures. Read the Capitol Report.

“Silver and gold prices will likely be under more pressure than most other commodities as the dollar strengthens,” said Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet. “This, combined with the softer physical demand in recent days out of Asia, could see gold being sold into rallies.”

Still, gold’s losses Wednesday came despite a weaker U.S. currency, with the ICE dollar index  slipping to 81.092 from 81.144 late the previous day.

Elsewhere in the metals complex, December palladium  gave up $1.70, or 0.2%, to $740.65 an ounce, while January platinum  lost $5.40, or 0.4%, to $1,434.20 an ounce.

High-grade copper for December  lost 2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.22 a pound.

Source : marketwatch