Gold Prices Shy Away From One-Month High

Gold futures eased in electronic trade Thursday, slightly cutting into gains in the previous session that left prices at their highest level in about a month.

Gold for June delivery  was at $1,473.20, down 80 cents, or 0.1%, during Asian trading hours.

Gold on Wednesday climbed $24.90, or 1.7%, to $1,473.70, the highest settlement for a most-active contract since April 12, according to FactSet data. It found support in part from weakness in the U.S. dollar  against the euro after upbeat German industrial-production data. A softer dollar tends to boost prices for dollar-denominated commodities such as gold.

The precious metal also got a boost by strong demand in Asia.

GFT Markets technical analyst Fawad Razaqzada on Wednesday cited strength in mainland China’s imports of gold from Hong Kong. Such shipments surged to 223.52 metric tons in March from 97.11 metric tons in February, “as physical buyers rushed to capitalize on ‘cheap’ prices,” he said.

But investor concerns about outflows from gold exchange-traded funds linger. Citi Research earlier this week said outflows from commodity ETFs reached a record, totaling $7.8 billion, including about $7.3 billion of net redemptions in the largest physical gold ETFs — the SPDR Gold Trust   and iShares Gold Trust  .

Elsewhere in the metals market, copper for July delivery  gave up 4 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.93 a pound. July silver , meanwhile, rose 12 cents, or 0.5%, to $24.05 an ounce.

July platinum  gained $1, or 0.1%, to $1,505.90 an ounce, and June palladium  slumped $3.65, or 0.5%, to $694.60 an ounce.

Marketwatch