Gold Prices Fall To 3-Week Lows as Dollar Moves Off Lows

Investing.com – Gold prices fell to three-week lows as the dollar moved off lows shrugging off weaker economic data.

for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $7.30, or 0.53%, to $1,389.60a troy ounce.

The dollar moved off session lows, pressuring gold prices despite a pair of bearish reports pointing to weakness in the economy.

The U.S. Labor Department’s latest (JOLTs) report, a measure of labor demand, showed job openings in December fell to about 5.81m, short of expectations for 5.96m.

The trade deficit — which measures the gap between what the United States imports and what it exports — widened to $53.1 billion in December, up $2.7 billion from November.

Dovish commentary from St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard, meanwhile, did little to stem losses in the yellow metal. Bullard said that he favours low rates for an extended period, and warned that nominal wages were not a good predictor of inflation.

Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – A fall in the dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency and thus, increases demand.

The fall in gold prices comes as data showed traders appear wary of increasing their bullish bets on gold.

Speculative net long position in gold fell by about 7,000 contracts to a net long 207,300 contracts, according to the most recent Commitment of Traders (COT) report. It was the first decline in net long positions in four weeks.

In other precious metal trade, fell 0.52% to $16.59 a troy ounce, while fell 0.10% to $994.50.

fell 0.78% to $3.2, while fell 0.04% to $2.75.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.