Gold Prices Settle Higher, But Post 4th Successive Weekly Losses

After slumping more than 3 percent in previous three sessions, gold prices settled higher on Friday thus recovering from a four-month low level as bargain hunting and short covering provided some impetus to the yellow metal-which has been weighed down heavily due to investors remaining in sidelines in the backdrop of policy logjam in Washington with regard to “fiscal cliff” issue.

Both gold futures and spot gold have now posted four successive weekly losses.

On Friday, gold futures for February delivery gained $14.20 or 0.9 percent to settle at $1,660.10 an ounce while spot gold was up 0.5% to trade at $1,655 an ounce.

The SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD) ended the day 0.39% higher at $160.33.

Earlier during the week, the bullion market witnessed heavy sell-off after the metal fell below its 200-day-moving-averge which was held for last four months, triggering technical weakness.

A slump across broader –asset- class was seen as wary investors dumped riskier assets and cut their positions in safe-haven bets as congressional talks stalled abruptly after House Speaker, John Boehner, failed to muster support from fellow Republican congressional leaders for his “Plan B” proposal on tax hikes.

The “Plan B”, which included a proposal of extending Bush-era tax cuts on income earners less than $1 million was downrightly rejected by the White House; and although Boehner said that regardless of veto threat from President Obama he would push this proposal at the House of Representatives, the proposed bill had to eventually be abandoned as Boehner could not coax the house.

With talks heading nowhere and less than a week left before the dreaded automatic spending cuts and tax hikes are set-off from  Jan 2013 (in case lawmakers continue to show incompetency in dealing this issue), investors are seeking safety in greenback amid rising uncertainty, weighing heavily on gold prices, equity markets and other commodities such as crude oil.

Moreover, traders are booking profits before the yearend and those who were not inclined to liquidate positions, are compelled to do so as gold market is on verge of posting worst quarterly performance since second quarter of 2004.

Speaking to MarketWatch,  Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with FuturePath Trading in Chicago, said, “A lot of traders have been booking profit and, of course, as the market had moved lower, other people who didn’t liquidate have come in to preserve what profit they had left. At this price, we’ll be up maybe 5% for the year, if that much.”

Metal analysts now believe that next few days are going to very decisive for bullion. In a research note, strategists at Credit Suisse wrote, “The next few days will be important for gold. If the market is unable to rebound above important technical levels, the weakening chart picture could start to affect the longer-term outlook. The next short-term support is at $1,630.”

UBS Bank was bearish as well. In a note to investors, the bank said, “Gold’s break of the 200-day moving average around $1,661 on Thursday spooked a lot of market participants and accelerated the sell-off. The technical picture doesn’t look great, and neither does sentiment.”

Gold Pares Most Gains Made In 2012

Having more than 12 percent earlier during the year, the metal has now pared most of its gains. Still, its gaining 5 percent and on course to post 12^th successive yearly gains.

In some other precious metal markets, silver edged higher 0.4 percent to close at near $30 an ounce. For the week, silver has plunged 7.4 percent.

In platinum group metals, spot platinum edged lower 0.5 percent to trade near $1,538 an ounce, while spot palladium was almost unchanged, at around $677 an ounce.

More Posts by this author

• Stocks Edge Lower in Early Trade
• II-VI Incorporated – IIVI – Announces Acquisition of LightWorks Optics
• The TJX Companies – TJX – Acquires Sierra Trading Post
• CTS Corporation – CTS – Acquisition of D&R Technology (D&R)
• Roadrunner Transportation Systems – RRTS – Announces Acquisition of Direct Connection Transportation
• Portfolio Recovery Associates – PRAA – Acquires Consumer Bankruptcy Claims From NCM
• Stocks Open Lower on Cliff Worries

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.