Gold slips as investors cash in gains from rally in wake of UK vote

NEW YORK/LONDON — Gold fell more than 1% on Tuesday as buyers cashed in gains from the biggest two-day rally in the metal since late 2008, made in the wake of Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union (EU) last week.

The metal jumped to its highest in more than two years at $ 1,358.20 an ounce on Friday after the UK referendum vote, and to more than threeyear highs in euro and sterling terms. It quickly retreated from that peak, however.

Spot gold was down 1% at $1,311.60 an ounce at 3:15 p.m. EDT (1915 GMT), off an earlier low of $1,305.23. Bullion was on track to finish June up 8% and the second quarter up more than 6%.

US gold futures for August delivery settled down 0.5% at $1,317.90.

World stocks rose for the first time in three days and sterling and the euro strengthened as investors snapped up assets hurt by some of the biggest falls since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.

“Gold is taking a well- deserved breather,” Saxo Bank’s head of commodity strategy said.

“Risk appetite is returning for now and with that, worries about the very rapid buildup of long positions leading up to ‘Brexit.’”

European leaders told Britain on Tuesday to act quickly to resolve the political and economic chaos unleashed by its vote to leave the European Union, a move the IMF said could put pressure on global growth.

“We believe that Britain’s forthcoming exit from the EU will, on balance, remain positive for gold,” said Metals Focus in a note, adding, however, that short-term downside risks to the gold price have developed.

“If we have news that there is stress in the financial system, which might make people think we are moving into a Lehman-like moment, that could trigger higher gold prices,” Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said.

Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold- backed exchangetraded fund, climbed to the highest since July 2013, on Monday.

Spot silver rose 0.2% to $ 17.75 an ounce. “From a technical perspective, silver looks poised for further gains,” said Fawad Razaq zada, technical analyst for Forex.com.

“Following last week’s “Brexit” vote, silver formed a large bullish engulfing candle on its daily chart on Friday.”

Platinum was up 0.3% at $977.21 and palladium was 2.6% higher at $569.65. —