Gold drops to lowest settlement since June
Analysts blame drop in ‘paper’ gold demand;
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures dropped Wednesday to their lowest settlement level since late June, as signs of weakening demand for the so-called paper form of the metal offset safe-haven support from a slowdown in growth among U.S. private payrolls in March.
The selling in the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (NAR:GLD) “has created a scenario of liquidation in the gold market — putting pressure on price of gold and counterbalancing what physical demand there is,” said Jeffrey Wright, managing director at Global Hunter Securities.
Gold for June delivery (CNS:GCM3) fell $22.40, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,553.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since June 28, according to FactSet data.
The losses for gold futures came as shares of the SPDR Gold Trust fell 1.5% in afternoon dealings. They’re down over 7% year to date.
Fed could start tapering QE3 this summer: Williams
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve could start tapering its $85 billion-a-month asset-purchase plan by the summer, said John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on Wednesday.
When the Fed might begin tapering off quantitative easing has been a key question for markets since the Fed’s policy meeting in March, after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that was the likeliest course of action. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-could-st...2013-04-03
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