Gold futures bounce off 8-week low on bargain buying

Investing.com - Gold futures rose for the first time in four sessions on Thursday, as the previous day’s steep drop to an eight-week low created bargain buying opportunities for investors reluctant to bet that prices would fall further.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded at USD1,647.55 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, gaining 0.26%.      

It earlier rose by as much as 0.4% to trade at a session high of USD1,649.25 a troy ounce. Prices plunged nearly 2% to hit USD1634.75 on Wednesday, the lowest since January 16.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,625.85 a troy ounce, the low from January 13 and resistance at USD1,682.75, the previous day’s high.

Gold futures plunged nearly 5% in the three sessions leading up to Thursday, as gold traders continued to unwind long positions after the Fed gave an upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy on Tuesday, which reduced expectations for a third round of U.S. monetary easing by the central bank.

A reduced likelihood of additional monetary stimulus can be viewed as a negative for gold, as the metal is seen as a safe store of value and benefits when inflationary fears rise.

Gold prices lost nearly 5% on February 29, when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to mention another round of easing in a statement in his testimony to the U.S. Congress.

The upbeat Fed assessment boosted the dollar, which tends to weigh on gold, as it dampens the metal's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.

However, Fed officials reiterated their intention to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low through late 2014 and made no changes to its Operation Twist program to replace shorter-term Treasurys in its balance sheet with longer-term debt.

Global financial service provider Barclays said in a report that it expected prices to find support at these levels as investor appetite for gold remains healthy due to decent physical demand, negative real interest rates and longer-term inflationary concerns.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for May delivery eased up 0.15% to trade at USD32.23 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery added 0.1% to trade at USD3.852 a pound.