After holding steady around the $1,300 per ounce mark, gold futures finally lost its grip and settled below that level for the first time in six-plus weeks on Thursday.
April gold closed at $1,294.70 an ounce, down $8.70 (0.7%)–its lowest settlement level since Feb. 11, reported MarketWatch. This followed Wednesday’s 0.6% drop.?
May silver also fell on Thursday as it settled at $19.71 an ounce, down?7 cents (0.4%).?
The precious metals declines came as the dollar traded higher thanks to better-than-expected economic data. This included?weekly jobless claims dropping to?a four-month low while the economy grew in 2013’s final quarter at 2.6%, up from 2.4%. Hence, this news dragged down gold’s appeal.?
Will gold’s fall continue? It depends on who you ask.
Walter de Wet of Standard Bank is a gold bear, saying to MarketWatch, ?We continue to believe that the metal will struggle in the face of weak demand and forecasted rising real interest rates in the U.S. We expect more downside in gold.?
Meanwhile, Barclays took a bullish stance as it raised this year’s gold forecast to?$1,250 an ounce, up from $1,205 an ounce. This came after noting gold’s year-to-date 8.5% increase.?
However, Gayle Berry wrote in a March 26 research note, “…we have not changed our overall view and still believe that its next move will be lower.? He added that amid the tensions in Russia-Ukraine, gold will be challenged to keeps it recent gains and economic data may be the catalyst to keep prices at present levels.?
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