Gold edges lower, market focus turns to OPEC
GOLD slipped on Tuesday as the dollar steadied, with markets on edge ahead of a meeting this week that could see oil producers curb output.
Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at US$1,191 an ounce by 0559 GMT. It gained 0.9 per cent in the previous session.
US gold futures were slightly down at US$1,190.10 per ounce.
“People will be likely watching the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting. If the meeting leads to higher oil prices, that should have some inflationary pressure across the global economies, especially the US and that could lead to lower gold prices,” said Barnabas Gan, an analyst at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
Since gold and crude oil are dollar-denominated commodities, they are strongly linked.
“Gold could see a better tone this week assuming that the dollar takes a bit of a breather from its upward advance and if US equity markets pause after several weeks of heady gains,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
“The wild card remains oil. A failure by the OPEC to agree on a credible production cut could send prices (oil) sharply lower and drag down gold with it.”
“Conversely, we could see the dollar weakening as a result of oil selling off, so at this stage it is not necessarily clear what direction gold will take,” he said. — Reuters