Gold drops to three-year low on strong US data

Gold hit a near-three year low on Wednesday, falling for a seventh session out of eight, as strong US economic data boosted stocks and supported the Federal Reserve's plan to scale back its bond purchases in the next few months.

 

Bullion prices have been sliding since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke laid out a strategy last Wednesday to wind down the bank's $85 billion monthly bond purchases on the back of a recovering economy.

 

Spot gold fell 1.4% to $1,258.54 an ounce by 0202 GMT. Gold for immediate delivery fell to $1,254.74 earlier - its lowest since September 2010, while Comex gold also fell to a near 3-year low of $1,254.6.

 

Gold's losses since the beginning of last week through Tuesday amount to 8%, or about $113 per ounce.

 

"We've pushed past the $1,270 level seen last week. That's a key technical level so we are going through a whole bunch of stop losses," said Victor Thianpiriya, commodities analyst at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

 

Silver fell over 2% to its lowest since August 2010.

 

The Fed said it would wind down bullion-friendly bond purchases from later this year, and end purchases by mid-2014 depending on the economic recovery.

 

Data on Tuesday showed US consumer confidence jumped in June to its highest level in more than five years, while sales of new US single-family homes rose to their highest level in nearly five years in May.

 

PHYSICAL DEMAND SUBDUED

 

When gold fell the most in thirty years in mid-April after 12 annual gains, strong physical demand in Asia helped cap losses.

 

However, this time around demand has risen only slightly as buyers are waiting on the sidelines for prices to stabilize.

 

"We have not seen a substantial increase in demand," said Thianpiriya. "The liquidity issue in China is also hurting sentiment."

 

The People's Bank of China has raised concerns of a lasting credit crunch as it tries to curtail a vast informal loan market and shore up growth, although it has sought to allay fears that its tough stance will lead to a banking crisis.

 

Shanghai gold futures fell almost 2% on Wednesday.

 

Demand in India has fallen as the government imposes new rules to discourage gold buying in an effort to reduce a record current account deficit.

 

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 16.23 tonnes to 969.50 tonnes on Tuesday, to their lowest since February 2009.