Gold, silver slide on profit-booking, US dollar strength

[BENGALURU] Gold and silver slid on Wednesday (Jan 7) as investors booked profits after a recent rally, while a stronger US dollar weighed on sentiment across the precious metals complex.

Spot gold slipped 0.7 per cent to US$4,466.19 per ounce, as at 10.05 am. Bullion hit a record high of US$4,549.71 on Dec 26.

US gold futures for February delivery were 0.4 per cent lower at US$4,477.30.

The US dollar hugged tight ranges, near a more than two-week high, ahead of a slew of US economic data, making greenback-priced assets more expensive for other currency holders.

US Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran, whose term at the US central bank ends later this month, said on Tuesday that aggressive US interest rate cuts are needed this year to keep the economy moving forward.

Investors currently expect at least two rate cuts by the Fed this year, while they look to the non-farm payroll data due on Friday for more clues.

Caracas and Washington have reached a deal to export up to US$2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, a move that would divert supplies from China following what Venezuelan officials have called a kidnapping of the former president Nicolás Maduro.

Non-yielding assets tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment and during times of geopolitical or economic uncertainty.

Spot silver lost 1.2 per cent to US$80.34 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of US$83.62 on December 29. Silver ended the year with annual gains of 147 per cent, far outpacing gold, in what was its best year on record.

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Gold dips from one-week high on steady dollar; other precious metals slip

Spot platinum was down 2.9 per cent at US$2,373.0 per ounce, after rising to an all-time high of US$2,478.50 last Monday. It rose more than 5 per cent earlier in the session to a one-week high.

Palladium traded 2.5 per cent lower at US$1,777.22 per ounce. REUTERS