BENGALURU: Gold fell on Monday, drifting away from a more than three-month peak hit in the previous session, as the dollar strengthened and European stocks moved into positive territory.

Spot gold was down 0.3 per cent at $1,230.08 an ounce at 1036 GMT, having touched its highest since July 17 on Friday at $1,243.32. US gold futures were down 0.3pc at $1,232 an ounce.

European shares opened higher on Monday as upbeat corporate reports and relief that Italy had avoided a ratings downgrade helped them rebound from a sell-off that had pushed them to levels not seen since December 2016.

Also denting bullion’s appeal was a stronger dollar, which edged back towards the 10-week high it hit on Friday against a basket of its key rivals on concerns over the global growth outlook.

“Recent buying interest has been predominately driven by the instigation of fresh long positioning and there is still scope for recent shorts to be squeezed on a move through $1,245, with further demand through $1,250,” traders at MKS PAMP said in a note.

Among other precious metals, silver gained 0.2pc to $14.64 per ounce. Palladium, which hit a record $1,150.50 an ounce last week, was up 0.4pc at $1,109.25 an ounce, while platinum climbed about apc to $837.80 an ounce.

Palladium’s price premium over platinum will widen next year, with palladium set for its best year on record while platinum slumps to its worst performance since 2004, a separate poll showed.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2018