Gold down slightly on profit taking
Published May 02, 2013 08:41PM ET
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery inched lower by 0.04% to USD1,466.95 per troy ounce in Asian trading Friday after settling up 1.60% at USD1,469.35 a troy ounce in U.S. trading on Thursday.
Gold futures were likely to test support USD1,4393.75 a troy ounce, Wednesday's low, and resistance at USD1,479.15, Tuesday's high.
Bullion was boosted by several catalysts on Thursday. First, the European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.50%. Additionally, ECB President Mario Draghi left the door open to further monetary easing.
Draghi also said the ECB may charge banks to hold excess reserves sent the euro dropping and made gold an attractive hedge. That would translate to negative interest rates, something few nations have experimented with in the past, perhaps boosting the allure of gold in the process.
Riskier assets, including stocks and commodities, also got a lift on the back of some encouraging U.S. economic news.
In U.S. economic news, initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 18,000 to 334,000 last week. That is good for a five-year low. Analysts expected a reading of 345,000 claims. The U.S. Labor Department delivers the April jobs report Friday before the open of U.S. markets and economists are expecting the addition of 145,000 new jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 7.6%.
Meanwhile, Comex silver for July delivery fell 0.31% to USD23.752 per ounce while copper for July delivery jumped 0.53% to USD3.122 per ounce.
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Written By: Investing.com
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