Gold futures mark lowest settlement of the month

New York (Apr 14)  Gold futures trimmed losses early Tuesday after a weaker-than-expected rebound in U.S. retail sales for March, but still settled at their lowest level of the month as traders weighed the timing of an interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Gold for June delivery on Comex GCM5, +0.02%  fell $6.70, or 0.6%, to end at $1,192.60 an ounce — the lowest futures price settlement since March 31. May silver SIK5, -0.07%  also fell 13 cents, or 0.8%, to $16.161 an ounce.

“The sentiment in the gold sector is so bearish that even the recent drop in oil, which is a huge benefit to the mining industry, has been ignored,” said Ken Ford, president of Warwick Valley Financial Advisors.

“Recent data shows hedge funds are now shorting gold at the highest level since 2006,” he said. But “as a contrarian, gold could be setting up for another multiyear run to the upside once gold breaks out of this two-year ‘basing pattern’.”

Gold prices Tuesday pared earlier losses after data showed that the rise in U.S. retail sales wasn’t as strong as expected.

The Commerce Department said March retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.9%, the strongest gain in a year but below the 1.1% rise forecast by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.

Producer prices rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in March after four straight months of declines. Economists had penciled in a rise of 0.3%.

“All in all, the numbers suggest no immediate triggers for the Fed, but the bias to the metals remains heavy unless the euro EURUSD, -0.04%  recaptures and exceeds the €1.10 level” versus the dollar, wrote Peter Hug, global trading director at Kitco Metals. The euro was trading at 1.0659 versus the dollar in Tuesday trade.

In other metals trade, July platinum PLN5, -0.07%  fell 20 cents to $1,153.70 an ounce, while June palladium PAM5, -0.96%  lost $8.90, or 1.2%, to $762.50 an ounce.

May copper HGK5, +0.11%  lost 1.9 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.70 a pound.

Source:  MarketWatch