Gold Prices Fall on Stronger Dollar, Fed Rate Expectations
September 03 2015 - 11:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Katherine Dunn
Gold prices fell on Thursday as a stronger dollar and
anticipation of U.S. employment data damped investor interest in
the hard asset.
The most actively traded contract, for December delivery,
recently was down $6.10, or 0.5%, at $1,127.50 a troy ounce on the
Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Traders have been shedding the precious metal for months on
fears that the Federal Reserve would soon tighten monetary policy,
ending a historic period of near-zero interest rates. The move
would spell trouble for gold, which benefited from the U.S. central
bank's easy money stance. Gold doesn't pay interest or dividends
and has an easier time competing with assets that do, like U.S.
Treasury bonds, when rates are low.
A stronger dollar, which rallied against the euro, weighed on
gold prices on Thursday. The dollar rallied against the euro in
response to European Central Bank comments that it stands ready to
expand its stimulus measures to buttress the region's economic
growth.
"That creates this difference between Europe and the U.S...if
the rest of the world is in stimulus mode and you're standing firm,
it creates strength in the dollar and that has a tendency to
pressure commodities," said Dave Meger, director of metals trading
at High Ridge Futures in Chicago.
Like other commodities, gold is traded in dollars and becomes
more expensive for investors who use other currencies to fund their
purchases of the precious metal.
Monetary stimulus is generally supportive for gold and tends to
lift the precious metal's value in terms of the local currency, Mr.
Meger said. Gold denominated in euros was recently trading at
EUR1013.80, the highest level since Aug. 28.
Gold traders are also focusing on upcoming U.S. nonfarm payrolls
data, due on Friday, said Simona Gambarini, a commodities economist
at Capital Economics. The U.S. central bank's dual mandate, maximum
employment and stable prices, means officials keep close watch on
the key indicator of labor market health when making
monetary-policy decisions.
"That's an important data point to establish whether the Fed
will raise rates" this month, Ms. Gambarini said. "So there's a bit
of volatility because of that."
Write to Tatyana Shumsky at tatyana.shumsky@wsj.com and
Katherine Dunnat katherine.dunn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 03, 2015 10:57 ET (14:57 GMT)
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