LONDON: Gold fell by more than one per cent on Monday, marking its biggest tumble in over a month, after the market’s favoured French presidential candidate won the first round of the country’s election, easing concerns about a potential political shock.

Spot gold was down 1.1pc at $1,269.45 an ounce by 1359 GMT, having touched its lowest in nearly two weeks at $1,265.90. US gold futures were down 1.4pc at $1,270.80.

The dollar recovered somewhat from its steep overnight falls but was still down 1.3pc against the euro and 1pc against a basket of currencies, supporting dollar-priced gold by making it cheaper for non-US investors.

In the wider markets, the pan-European STOXX 50 index rose 3.9pc and France’s CAC40 jumped more than 4pc. The market’s so-called fear gauge, the VIX volatility index , plunged by its most since November.

Escalating geopolitical tensions had prompted speculators to increase their net long, or buy, positions in COMEX gold to a five-month high in the week to April 18, official data showed on Friday.

Spot silver fell by 1pc to $17.75 an ounce after touching a one-month low of $17.65. Platinum was down 1.5pc at $956.10, while palladium rose 0.2pc to $792.75.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017