Gold Ends Lower For Sixth Straight Day

(RTTNews) - Gold futures dropped for a sixth straight session to end slightly lower on Monday, with investors opting for the riskier equity assets tracking rising global equity markets, even as the dollar trended higher against some major currencies. A strong dollar makes oil more expensive to international buyers holding foreign currencies.

Rebounding stocks and concerns about physical demand have also diminished appetite for the precious metal in recent weeks.

Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $2.00 or 0.2 percent to close at $1,244.00 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Gold for June delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,251.00 and a low of $1,241.10 an ounce.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained unchanged at 785.28 tons on Monday from its previous close.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.62 on Monday, up from its previous close of 80.39 late Friday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.68 intraday and a low of 80.39.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3601 on Monday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3636 late Friday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.3640 intraday and a low of $1.3588.

In economic news, U.S. manufacturing sector in May grew at its fastest pace this year, with the purchase managers index rising to 55.4 percent from 54.9 percent in April, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management. Economists expected the index at 55.8 percent for May.

In economic news, construction spending in the U.S. rose less than expected in April, with spending edging up 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $953.5 billion from the revised March estimate of $951.6 billion. Economists expected spending to increase by about 0.6 percent. Nonetheless, the report also showed notable upward revisions to the spending seen in the two previous months. Construction spending rose 0.6 percent in March and 0.4 percent in February.

Germany's inflation slowed more than expected in May to its lowest since June 2010, flash estimates published by Destatis revealed Monday. Inflation, based on the consumer price index, dropped to 0.9 percent in May, the level last seen in June 2010, from 1.3 percent in April. This was also below the expected rate of 1.1 percent.

The harmonized index of consumer prices rose only 0.6 percent on a yearly basis in May. Inflation was expected to slow marginally to 1 percent from 1.1 percent seen in April. Month-on-month, consumer prices were down 0.1 percent, against expectations for a 0.1 percent rise. Similarly, harmonized prices slipped 0.3 percent, instead of a 0.1 percent rise forecast by economists.