Gold Little Changed Near 3-Month Low on Stronger Dollar

 

By Nicholas Larkin and Glenys Sim

Gold traded little changed near a three-month low in London as investors weighed a stronger dollar against speculation lower prices may spur more purchases. Platinum fell to the lowest since February.
The dollar reached a 14-month high today against a basket of 10 major currencies. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect data this week to show jobless claims fell and retail sales improved, adding to the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next year.
Bullion has retreated 6.8 percent from an almost four-month high set July 10, when geopolitical tensions helped spur demand for a haven. The decline took the metal toward a technical level that suggests to some traders that the price may rebound. European Union governments meet today to consider enacting tougher Russian sanctions as the bloc weighsPresident Vladimir Putin’s truce in Ukraine. “Market participants continued reducing their bullish bets in the metal on the strengthening dollar,” Abhishek Chinchalkar, an analyst at Mumbai-based AnandRathi Commodities Ltd., said in a report today. “With prices at a three-month low, buyers of the physical yellow metal could step in at these levels.”
Gold for immediate delivery was 0.2 percent lower at $1,253.16 an ounce by 9:45 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. It fell to $1,247.60 yesterday, the lowest since June 6. Gold for December delivery rose 0.4 percent to $1,254.10 on the Comex in New York.
Futures trading volume was 11 percent below the average for the past 100 days for this time of day, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

RSI Level

Gold’s 14-day relative-strength index reached a three-month low of 33.4 on Sept. 8 and was near that level today. A drop to 30 suggests to some traders who study technical charts that prices may be set to gain.
Talks in Brussels follow the EU’s decision this week to put on hold for at least a “few days” a second package of economic penalties against Russia over its encroachment in Ukraine. The planned sanctions, originally due to be published in the Official Journal yesterday, include barring some Russian state-owned defense and energy companies from raising capital in the EU, according to a European official who spoke on the usual condition of anonymity.
Silver for immediate delivery was little changed at $19.0319 an ounce in London, after reaching $18.8795 yesterday, the lowest since June 5. Platinum lost 0.4 percent to $1,383.06 an ounce, the lowest since Feb. 11.
Palladium declined 0.6 percent to $855 an ounce. Prices reached a 13-year high of $912.26 on Sept. 1 amid concern that supplies from Russia, the largest producer, may be disrupted. While Russia has retaliated against previous sanctions by banning imports of some food products, there have been no metal related sanctions yet.