Gold inched lower on Thursday, hovering below a 1-week high hit earlier this week, as firm equities sapped interest in the precious metal, which has seen steady outflows on exchange-traded funds. Gold shrugged off news the Russian Federation raised its gold reserve for a fifth straight month in March and Turkey added to its holdings for a fourth month.

FUNDAMENTALS

Ø Spot gold fell $2.14 an ounce to $1,428.66 by 0045 GMT. Gold sank a combined $225 on April 12 and 15 in a sell-off that surprised ardent gold investors and bulls.

Ø U.S. gold was at $1,428.10 an ounce, up $4.40.

Ø SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.38 percent to 1092.98 tons on Wednesday from 1097.19 tons on Tuesday. The current holdings are at multi-year lows.

Ø Billionaire investor John Paulson told investors on Wednesday he is staying the course on gold even though there may be more short-term volatility in the price of the metal.

Ø Barrick Gold Corp, making a painful adjustment to a sustained slump in bullion prices, reported progress in controlling costs on Wednesday and said it planned further cuts in capital spending, sending its shares higher.

Precious metals prices 0045 GMT

Metal	Last	Change	Pct chg	YTD pct chg	Volume
Spot Gold	1428.66	-2.14	-0.15	-14.68
Spot Silver	23.11	0.02	0.09	-23.68
Spot Platinum	1425.24	-0.76	-0.05	-7.15
Spot Palladium	666.47	0.97	0.15	-3.69
COMEX GOLD JUN3	1428.1	4.4	0.31	-14.78	2433
COMEX SILVER MAY3	23.07	0.23	1.02	-23.7	1292
Euro/Dollar	1.3021
Dollar/Yen	99.5

Source: Reuters

Gold edges down, falling ETFs sap interest

FUNDAMENTALS

Metal