Gold News & Info

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures on Tuesday slipped to their lowest point in nearly two weeks, extending their losing streak to four sessions as investors locked in some of their recent profits. Gold for June delivery, the most active contract, fell $3.80, or 0.3%, to $1,417.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was gold�s lowest settlement since March 18. It had traded as low as $1,412.10 an ounce earlier, but prices came off lows as a key gauge of consumer confidence fell sharply in March. A report from the nonprofit Conference Board pointed to rising prices of food and energy as the main source of worries for U.S. consumers.

Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Lind Waldock in Chicago, cited uncertainties surrounding Japan�s nuclear disaster, ongoing fighting in Libya, and protests in other Middle East and North African countries as factors playing on traders� minds. But on a quiet day like Tuesday, investors needed either �an escalation of the themes already on the table or some new themes coming,� he added, in order to push gold upward. Gold had rallied to an intraday record high of $1,448.60 an ounce Thursday, supported by political unrest across the Arab world and Japan�s struggles to stabilize its damaged nuclear plant. �Investors are clearly still taking profits after the price of gold marked a new record high last week,� Commerzbank analysts said in a note. See full story.