Gold was lifted on Monday by broad gains in commodities and by hopes of further monetary easing ahead of US and European central-bank policy meetings this week, but it remains vulnerable to a slowdown in physical buying and outflows in exchange-traded funds. Bullion has recovered more than half of its $225-per-ounce loss incurred between April 12 and 16, driven by very strong physical demand around the world especially in top bullion consumers China and India.
However, selling by investors in exchange-traded funds failed to show any signs of abating as investors, dissatisfied gold’s underperformance, continued to sell the metal. Spot gold was up 0.8 percent at $1,474.21 an ounce by 4:54 pm EDT (2054 GMT). US gold futures for June delivery settled up $13.80 at $1,467.40 an ounce, with trading volume at about half of its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Holdings on the largest gold-backed ETP, the SPDR Gold Trust, reported an outflow of 7.2 tonnes on Friday, bringing the total drop to 138.2 tonnes this month.
According to Reuters data, total outflows across the major ETFs have reached 354.60 tonnes this year, more than reversing last year’s net rise of 220.20 tonnes. Among other precious metals, silver rose 2.2 percent to $24.51 an ounce. Platinum rose to $1,506.74, up 2.3 percent, while palladium was up 2.8 percent at $696.72 an ounce.
