Gold Ends Lower As Dollar Strengthens

(RTTNews) - Gold futures slipped for a third straight session to end at a 3-1/2-month low on Wednesday, with investors looking for fresh triggers after yesterday's significant decline. The precious metal continued to be impacted by a strong dollar after some upbeat economic data from the U.S. yesterday, settling at its lowest since February 6.

Nonetheless, a somewhat sluggish display by U.S. and European stocks amid concerns over the unrest in Ukraine aided the precious metal to an extent.

Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $6.20 or 0.55 percent to close at $1,259.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.

Gold for June delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,267.30 and a low of $1,255.80 an ounce.

On Tuesday, gold futures plummeted to its lowest level in over 3-1/2 months, with investors going in for riskier equity assets on some upbeat U.S. economic data.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved higher to 785.28 tons from its previous close of 776.89 tons on Tuesday.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.57 on Wednesday, up from its previous close of 80.35 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.58 intraday and a low of 80.32.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3594 on Wednesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3635 late Tuesday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.3640 intraday and a low of $1.3590.

In economic news, German unemployment increased in May confounding expectations, for the first time in six months but the labor office credited it largely to weather related factors. The number of people out of work increased by around 24,000 to 2.91 million in May, the Federal Labor Agency reported Wednesday, the first increase in six months. The forecast was for a decline of 15,000.

Meanwhile, eurozone economic sentiment improved more-than-expected in May to a 34-month high, driven by higher confidence among consumers and industry managers, survey results showed Wednesday. The economic sentiment index rose to 102.7 in May, the highest since July 2011, from 102 in April, the European Commission said. This was also above the consensus of 102.2.