Gold Prices Remained Unchanged On Low Volume Trading Day

Gold prices remained unchanged on Monday as low volume trading on account of Veteran’s day holiday and weaker euro in the backdrop of resurfacing of debt crisis in Greece hurt the demand while relatively calmer Wall Street following strong economic indicators from China also boosted investors’ risk appetite for riskier assets.

Trading volume in U.S. gold futures was 30 percent below 250 day moving average, a data provided by Reuters showed. Banks and bond markets were shut in the U.S. on account of Veteran’s day holiday with many traders off the desk.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery remained unaltered at $1, 7030.90 an ounce while spot gold inched up 0.2% to settle at $1,727.39 an ounce.

The SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD) ended the day 0.23% lower at $167.43.

Although the Greek Parliament approved budget 2013, which was consistent with its lenders’ requirements, uncertainty prevailed in the market as the decision on next tranche of bailout funds was still lingering, weighing on the euro which in turn curtailed the demand for gold.

Relatively calmer Wall Street also weighed on bullion prices, said analysts. All leading benchmark indexes traded mostly flat  on Monday following last week’s mayhem which saw both Dow Jones and S&P slumping more than 2 percent as investors rushed to sell riskier assets in the backdrop of looming threat from the ‘fiscal cliff’.

Market  sentiment was also boosted after a data release from China showed that country’s trade surplus reached to a 45 months high in October while exports climbed over 11 % in the same period, emphasizing some recovery in the global economy and prompting investors to take some exposure in riskier assets.

However, gold prices are expected to remain steady in the near term as looming threat of fiscal cliff will lift metal’s safe haven appeal.

The fiscal cliff , which is referred to automatic spending cuts and tax increases worth $600 billion, could potentially through the U.S. economy into recession if the Congress fails to cut a deal on spending cuts by the year end. The spotlight will be on Congressional negotiations that will start from this week.

“The most positive development geopolitically [for all commodities and stocks] would be news that the U.S. Congress and the President have reached some kind of preliminary agreement regarding the fiscal cliff,” commented Steven Kaplan, a senior editor at TrueContrarian.com.

Moreover the ongoing Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing, which entails $40 billion of bond purchase, every month will keep alive metal’s inflation-hedge appeal in the long run.

Speculation is also rife that the Bank of Japan could provide further economic stimulating measures after a data release on Monday showed that Asia’s second largest economy contracted 3.5% on annualized basis.

In a note to investors, Gijsbert Groenewegen, a managing partner at Silver Arrow Capital Management said, “The market could see some fireworks, considering ongoing turmoil in the euro zone, fiscal crisis in the U.S. and Fed’s quantitative easing.”

Nevertheless, he stressed that if that has to happen then gold will first have to break above the $1,740 an ounce, its next key resistance.

In the physical demand side, demand remained strong ahead of the Hindu festivals ‘Dhan Terasa’ and ‘Diwali’, occasions considered auspicious to buy gold and jewelry. According to International Trading Company MMTC Ltd, record volume of gold and silver was purchased by Indian Jewelers during the festival season.

In some other precious metal markets, silver slumped 0.6 % to $ settle at $32.38 an ounce. Platinum edged up 0.5 percent to close at $1,558.10 an ounce, while palladium slipped 12 cents to end the day at $603.80 an ounce.

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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.