Gold falls as China rate cut boost stocks, dollar

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Reuters LONDON
Last Updated : Aug 25 2015 | 6:57 PM IST

By Jan Harvey

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold fell on Tuesday as global markets rebounded from the previous day's rout after China cut interest rates to stimulate its wavering economy, with European stocks rising 4.5 percent and the dollar up 1 percent versus the euro.

Autocatalyst metal palladium continued to slide, however, falling as much as 7 percent to its lowest in five years.

Spot gold was down 0.6 percent at $1,147.26 an ounce at 1151 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down $6.60 an ounce at $1,147.00.

Gold had edged lower on Monday, with some traders citing liquidation to cover losses on other markets, but largely held its ground after a plunge in Chinese equities sent world stocks and commodity prices tumbling and knocked the dollar.

Markets made gains after China's central bank cut interest rates and lowered the amount of reserves banks must hold for the second time in two months.

"If those trends continue, then certainly it will create some short-term pressure on gold prices as the initial fear in the marketplace that we saw yesterday dissipates," Standard Chartered analyst Nicholas Snowden said.

Gold has rebounded sharply from the 5-1/2 year low it hit in July on the back of expectations that the Federal Reserve was on track to raise interest rates this year for the first time in nearly a decade, lifting the opportunity cost of holding gold while boosting the dollar.

While those expectations have receded after a dovish reading of the minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting and on fears of a broader global economic slowdown, they are keeping a lid on gold's gains.

"We're still in an environment where we know U.S. interest rates will go up," Snowden added. "For gold, that limits how much of a bid you will see, even with the sort of financial market turmoil that ensued yesterday."

Palladium fell to a low of $528.50 an ounce, its weakest since September 2010, and was later down 2.7 percent at $555.47.

"Platinum group metals have noticeably been lagging in recent weeks, failing to benefit more from gold's rebound," UBS said in a note.

Platinum was down 0.2 percent at $986 an ounce, while silver was down 0.1 percent at $14.77 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr. in Manila; editing by Jason Neely and William Hardy)

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First Published: Aug 25 2015 | 6:46 PM IST

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