Big drop for precious metals

Gold drops for first time in three sessions

Gold futures closed lower on Monday, 18 November 2013 at Comex logging their first loss in three trading sessions, with overall strength in U.S. equities drawing attention away from the precious metal as comments from some Federal Reserve officials pointed to the likelihood that the central bank will soon begin to scale back its bond-buying program. Silver also fell.

Gold for December delivery fell $15.10, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,272.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

December silver closed down 37 cents, or 1.8%, at $20.36 an ounce.

On the Fedspeak circuit, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said the FOMC missed an 'excellent opportunity' to begin the tapering process by not reducing the size of its asset purchases in September. Mr. Plosser went on to say he would have preferred a fixed amount for quantitative easing instead of an open-ended program.

Amid a quieter geopolitical front, the economic report highlights for this week will be the German ZEW business survey on Tuesday and the U.S. Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes on Wednesday afternoon. The market place remains preoccupied with the timing of any tapering of the Fed's monthly bond-buying program, also called quantitative easing.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Monday reported the collective GDP of the world's 34 major economies rose by 0.5% in the third quarter, from the second quarter. This report adds to the concerns about worldwide deflationary pressures creeping into the picture.

Asian stock markets rallied Monday following the release late Friday of a new economic reform plan from China, following its Communist party meeting earlier last week. The plan opens up the financial and stock market sectors more, and eases restrictions on investment.

Today's economic data at Wall Street was limited to just two items. The September net long-term TIC flows report indicated an $8.9 billion outflow of foreign capital from U.S. denominated assets. This followed the prior month's $8.9 billion outflow.

Separately, the November NAHB Housing Market Index checked in at 54, which was below the consensus estimate of 55 and unchanged from the downwardly revised (from 55) October reading.

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