Gold Ends Lower On Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended lower on Wednesday mostly on profit taking, while tracking declining global equity markets, after having recorded some hefty gains yesterday. The precious metal made impressive gains yesterday after some soft jobs data out of the U.S. strengthened hopes the Federal Reserve would leave its stimulus program untouched.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $8.60 or 0.6 percent to close at $1,334.00 an ounce Wednesday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold for December delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,342.20 and a low of $1,328.50 an ounce.

Yesterday, gold surged to end at a more than one month high as the dollar trended lower against some major currencies after some soft jobs data out of the U.S. strengthened investor expectations the Federal Reserve would likely continue to maintain its $85 billion monthly quantitative easing program, with no cuts in the near future.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved up to 878.32 tons from 871.72 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 79.23 on Wednesday, down from 79.26 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 79.39 intraday and a low of 79.14.

The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.3785 on Wednesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3781 late Tuesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3793 intraday and a low of $1.3742.

In economic news from the U.S., the Labor Department said import prices rose by 0.2 percent in September, matching the revised increase reported for August as well as economist estimates. Export prices rose by 0.3 percent in September after falling by 0.5 percent in the previous month. Economists had expected export prices to edge down by 0.1 percent.

Elsewhere, Bank of England policymakers unanimously decided to keep interest rate at a record low 0.50 percent and quantitative easing unchanged at GBP 375 billion, minutes of the meeting showed. "With unemployment remaining above the 7 percent threshold, the Committee's forward guidance therefore remained in place and no MPC member thought it appropriate to tighten the stance of monetary policy at the current juncture," the minutes showed.

Eurozone's consumer confidence increased further in October to its highest level in 27 months, preliminary data from the European Commission showed Wednesday. The flash consumer confidence indicator for euro area climbed to -14.5 from -14.9 in September. The score was in line with economists' expectations. The index rose for the eleventh month in a row.