METALS

GOLD steadied yesterday, recouping early losses on the back of a retreat in the dollar after data suggested US economic growth might be slowing in the final quarter.

In London, gold was fixed at $1 197.50 an ounce (R422 125 a kilogram) in the afternoon, slipping $1.50 from Tuesday’s second fixing. Spot prices had slipped as low as $1 194.71 before the economic data.

Recent strong US data has fuelled talk that the Federal Reserve could soon raise interest rates, depressing gold.

Reports released yesterday, however, showed domestic personal spending grew less than forecast in October, while US jobless claims rose to the highest since September and new orders for US-made capital goods fell for a second month in October.

“You have to wonder for how much longer US data can have such a big hold on gold,” Matthew Turner at Macquarie said. “We have had a lot of ups and downs in US data this year, but the Fed hasn’t actually changed its policy.” – Reuters