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Gold dropped toward the lowest level in a month as investors weighed the outlook for U.S. interest rates before a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.4 percent to $1,216.51 an ounce before trading at $1,217.40 at 3:13 p.m. in Singapore. Prices slid to 1,208.38 on Monday, the lowest intraday level since Feb. 23, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.
Gold is still the best performing commodity this year on speculation the Fed may slow rate increases as inflation lags behind the official 2 percent goal. Fed Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said Monday the global economy was having a significant impact on measures policy makers watch to determine rates. Yellen is scheduled to speak to the Economic Club of New York Tuesday.
Investors are “waiting to see particularly how Yellen’s speech goes, to get some indication around the shorter-term environment for gold, which broadly speaking has been positive,” Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney, said by phone.
• Investors continued to increase holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by gold. Assets rose for a ninth day to 1,771.7 metric tons on Monday, the highest since December 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
• Bullion of 99.99 percent purity was 0.2 percent lower at 255.20 yuan a gram on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
• Spot silver lost 0.6 percent to $15.1411 an ounce, platinum rose 0.1 percent and palladium added 0.3 percent.
Source: http://classfmonline.com/1.8847564
