Wednesday in Shanghai, bullion prices slid as modest growth in US consumer confidence and improved home prices eased some worries of another downturn in the US.
Spot gold prices eased by 0.3% or $3.19, slipping to $1,245.80 an ounce by 2:56 GMT, easing from a two-month peak of $1,249.90 hit on Tuesday. Precious metal’s prices slid after touching a two-month high on Tuesday as investors continued to worry about the prospects of the global economy and sought refuge in the yellow metal.
The 30-day moving average, at $1,208.07, was close to crossing above the 50-day moving average at $1,209.06.
Data showed modest growth in US consumer confidence in August and better-than-expected June home prices, easing some worries on a "double-dip" in the world's largest economy.
The uncertainties in the economic outlook helped propel gold to its biggest monthly rise since last November in August. And some experts expected gold prices to further benefit from the worries over recovery especially in the US and Europe.
Still, most investors attributed the fall to a consolidation and expected prices to rise on unabated demand due to the uncertainty surrounding global growth, that is evident from a steady increase in the holdings in the world's largest gold-backed, exchange-traded fund.
Thus far SPDR Gold Trust reported its holdings to gain 3.952 tonnes to 1,302.508 tonnes on Aug. 31, from 1,298.556 tonnes on August,27.
US gold futures for December delivery was down 0.1% at $1,248.7 an ounce.
The other precious metals were quoted at about 02:56 GMT as much as:
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1245.80 -3.19 -0.26 13.70
Spot Silver 19.33 -0.01 -0.05 14.85
Spot Platinum 1515.25 -1.15 -0.08 3.29
Spot Palladium 498.50 1.80 +0.36 22.93
TOCOM Gold 3396.00 50.00 +1.49 4.20 25925
TOCOM Platinum 4155.00 41.00 +1.00 -5.16 9585
TOCOM Silver 52.80 1.30 +2.52 2.13 341
TOCOM Palladium 1361.00 31.00 +2.33 16.82 113
TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices are in $ per ounce.