Gold declined to a two-week low as
a stronger dollar curbed demand for the metal as an alternative
investment.
The dollar gained as much as 0.6 percent against a basket
of currencies amid concern that the outcome of French
presidential elections will disrupt efforts to stem the region’s
debt crisis. Euro-area services and manufacturing fell more than
estimated in April, while data showed China’s production will
contract for a sixth month, according to a Markit Economics and
HSBC Holdings Plc.
“There is gloom and people want to move into cash,” Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in
Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “The production numbers
out of China have depressed market sentiment.”
Gold futures for June delivery fell 0.6 percent to settle
at $1,632.60 an ounce at 1:42 p.m. on the Comex in New York.
Earlier, prices slipped to $1,623.60, the lowest for a most-
active contract since April 5. Prices have dropped 2.4 percent
this month.
“Physical demand is really very quiet,” Bernard Sin, the
head of currency and metal trading at MKS Finance SA, a bullion
refiner in Geneva, said by telephone.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, palladium futures for
June delivery declined 0.9 percent to $670.90 an ounce. Platinum
futures for July delivery slumped 1.8 percent to $1,556.30 an
ounce, the biggest fall since April 4.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Nicholas Larkin in London at
nlarkin1@bloomberg.net;
Debarati Roy in New York at
droy5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steve Stroth at
sstroth@bloomberg.net
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