Gold Recovers on Higher Physical Demand

Gold recovered near $1150 an ounce Tuesday as demand for physical metal picked up though prices remain under pressure from gains in the dollar and stocks.

Buying of physical metal gathered pace in major consumer China on Tuesday, traders said, supporting prices after dollar strength pushed them sharply lower in the previous session.

Spot gold was flat at $1,150.45 an ounce at 1021 GMT, while US gold futures for December delivery were down $9.90 an ounce at $1,149.90.The metal slid to a 4-1/2 year low at $1,131.85 an ounce last week, and is currently down 4.3 per cent this year.

Gold’s inability to retain Friday's 3 per cent jump suggests investors are selling into rallies, expecting more losses on the back of the US economic recovery, a robust dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise rates sooner rather than later.

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, fell 1.8 tonnes on Monday to 725.36 tonnes, a six-year low. The fund has seen outflows of 15.8 tonnes so far this month.

Silver was down 0.3 per cent at $15.51 an ounce. Spot platinum was down 0.2 per cent at $1,190.24 an ounce, while spot palladium was down 0.2 per cent at $757.35 an ounce.