New York - Gold was little changed, holding a gain for December amid light trading. Silver, platinum and palladium prices rose.
Bullion for delivery in February rose 0.1 percent to $1,069.80 an ounce at 6:37 a.m. in New York. Volumes on the Comex were 9 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day.
“There is nothing going on for the moment,” said Adrien Biondi, the global head of precious metals at Commerzbank AG in Luxembourg. ”I think that was it for the year. We only see squaring with small trades.”
Gold is heading for a third annual decline as expectations for tighter monetary policy in the U.S. curb demand for the metal, which doesn’t pay interest. While the Federal Reserve increased rates this month for the first time in almost a decade as the economy strengthened, chair Janet Yellen has said the pace of future moves will be gradual. Traders are pricing in a 51 percent chance that rates will increase in March.
Rates outlook
While HSBC Holdings predicts just two rate increases next year, Goldman Sachs Group is among banks that see four hikes. Marc Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, said the US is at the start of an economic recession and US stocks will fall in 2016, clashing with Yellen’s view that things are improving.
“One of the key variables for markets next year will be the extent of what happens to the U.S. dollar,” Ric Spooner, chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone on Tuesday. Trading will be muted this week and prices will move within a range of $1 060 to $1 078 an ounce, he said.
Investors sold from gold-backed funds for a fifth day. Holdings in exchange-traded products fell to 1,465.6 metric tons on Monday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Assets are near the lowest since 2009.
Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.4 percent to $13.99 an ounce, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Platinum and palladium rose more than 0.4 percent.
-With assistance from Ranjeetha Pakiam.
BLOOMBERG