Gold futures fell slightly, closer to the lowest level since January this year, as the strengthening of the American currency has led to a drop in demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. The dollar is still maintained after the data, which showed that the manufacturing sector in September, the United States has shown the maximum growth over the past 4 years.
"The downward trend in gold is maintained. The dollar is very strong and will continue to put pressure on the precious metals, and the physical demand is insufficient to support prices ", - said economist Wing Fung Precious Metals Peter Fung. Traders relying on technical analysis, suggest that gold prices fall below the psychological level of $ 1,200 per ounce.
Little support gold receives from the geopolitical factor - fighting in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria. Gold is traditionally seen as a safe haven for investment in times of global economic instability. However, attempts to climb up the gold look on the background of the coming end of the program to promote and enhance the Fed rate limited and used for sale.
Demand for gold in the physical markets of Asia generally increased in the fourth quarter due to holidays in China and India, but some customers to delay purchases, waiting for further price reductions. With regard to investment demand, it is also low: the world's largest reserves of the gold-traded exchange-traded fund SPDR Gold Trust Tuesday fell by 1.2 tonnes to 773.45 tonnes - the minimum volume since December 2008. Over the last week the outflow of SPDR Gold Trust was 1.4%. In general, investors are amplified "bearish" sentiment.
The cost of the October gold futures on the COMEX today dropped to 1220.00 dollars per ounce.