Gold falls as Middle East simmers

Gold prices slipped further on Tuesday from the previous session’s near seven-year high, as Middle East tensions cooled and investors booked profit, while palladium touched a new high.

Spot gold fell 0.4% — its biggest daily percentage decline in about a month — to $1,559.11 an ounce by 3.40am GMT.

In the previous session, prices touched $1,582.59, the highest since April 2013. US gold futures dipped 0.5% to $1,561.00.

“With no immediate retaliation from Iran, some of the tensions have simmered. Also, we’ve seen some profit-taking coming in,” said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for the Asia-Pacific region at Oanda. “If things de-escalate (with Iran), then gold will hit lower quite quickly. We would see it go down below $1,500.”

Gold, considered a safe asset in times of political and economic uncertainty, had jumped in the last two sessions on concerns of a wider conflict after a US air strike killed Iran’s top military commander Qassem Soleimani last week. Markets were worried about conflicting reports about American military repositioning troops in preparation for leaving Iraq.

Further weighing on gold, Asian shares rebounded on ebbing Middle East tensions. Additionally, oil prices relinquished gains on speculation that Iran might not strike against the US in a way that would disrupt supplies.

However, risks of escalating tensions persisted, with the US denying a visa to Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that would have let him attend a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday.

“With $15-$20 setbacks the new intraday norm (in gold), look for volatility to remain elevated,” Stephen Innes, a market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.

Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.10% to 896.18 tons on Monday, their highest since November 27. Speculators increased their bullish positions in Comex gold and silver contracts in the week to December 31, data showed.

Elsewhere, spot palladium fell 0.3% to $2,024.75, off a peak of $2,032.94 an ounce hit earlier in the session. The industrial metal, suffering from sustained supply woes, gained about 54% in 2019. Silver slipped 0.5% to $18.05 an ounce, after touching a  three-month high at $18.50 in the previous session, while platinum advanced 0.3% to $965.76. 

Reuters