Gold rally pauses, ETF inflows near year’s high

Gold futures edged lower on Friday morning in the US, succumbing to selling pressure after reaching a fresh multi-week high in recent sessions.

Gold for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was last down $1.30 or 0.1 percent to $1,343.40 per ounce. Resistance is steady at $1,350.

Yesterday, the precious metal climbed to its highest since September 7 in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates low for at least another two months.

The US central bank is unlikely to raise rates ahead of the presidential election, which is only six weeks away, but market observers anticipate the Fed moving in December.

“In line with our expectations, the Fed meeting has eased investor fears about an imminent rate increase, bolstering gold,” FastMarkets analyst Boris Mikanikrezai said. “In this context, a fresh 2016 high in October remains our base case. But we acknowledge that the current complacency of the financial markets may undermine gold’s rally perhaps later in the fourth quarter.”

In paper gold, holdings in the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracked by FastMarkets have risen 6.7 tonnes bought overnight, bringing the total to 2,117 tonnes – a touch below the year’s high of 2,119 tonnes.

In data today, the EU flash manufacturing PMI at 52.6 was better than expected but the flash services PMI undershot at 52.1. Later, the US will release its flash manufacturing PMI.

In European markets, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC-40 were down 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent respectively while the dollar softened by 0.1 percent to 1.1279 against the euro.

As for other precious metals, Comex silver for December delivery fell 14.4 cents or 0.7 percent to $19.955 per ounce. Trade has ranged from $19.840 to $20.025.

Platinum for October settlement declined $3.0 or 0.3 percent to $1,058.80 per ounce while the most active palladium contract stood at $698.95, down $1.50.

(Editing by Mark Shaw)

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