London — Gold hit a more than two-week low on Monday as expectations that Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy would stay in place after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s election victory at the weekend lifted the dollar to a three-month high versus the yen. Abe’s win also fed into positive sentiment in equity markets, already buoyed last week by optimism about tax cuts in the US. That helped push world stocks to another record high, curbing interest in gold as an alternative asset. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $1,274.03 an ounce by 13.55 GMT, having touched its lowest since October 6 at $1,271.86. US gold futures for December delivery were $3.10 lower at $1,275.40. The metal has fallen more than 6% from mid-September’s 13-month peak of $1,357.54 an ounce. "When we went up above $1,350, there was fear in the market that the situation with North Korea would explode, and it didn’t," LBBW’s head of commodity research Frank Schallenberger said. "People don’t see that as much of an issue as they ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.