Gold Declines for Third Day as U.S. Recovery Strengthens Dollar

Gold Declines for Third Day as U.S. Recovery Strengthens Dollar Gold weakened for a third day as further evidence of a U.S. recovery hurt haven demand and strengthened the dollar. Platinum fell for the first time in three days, while palladium snapped a four-day advance.

Spot gold lost as much as 0.2 percent to $1,575.68 an ounce, and traded at $1,576.86 at 8:53 a.m. in Singapore as the Dollar Index, a gauge against six counterparts, traded near a sevenmonth high. Bullion, which dropped to a two-week low of $1,561.55 on March 8, has declined 5.9 percent this year.

Data in the U.S. this week may show a pickup in retail sales after reports last week showed that companies hired more workers than expected and unemployment declined last month. Federal Reserve policy makers remain divided on the pace of stimulus that helped gold to rally for the past 12 years.

“The strength of the dollar is weighing on gold,” said Sun Yonggang, a macroeconomic strategist at Everbright Futures Co., a unit of one of China’s largest state-owned investment companies.

“As U.S. economic data continues to point to a recovery, the expectation for stimulus lessens.”

The Dollar Index gained as much as 0.2 percent to 82.858 today, nearing the 82.924 reached on March 8 that was the highest since Aug. 3. The index has rallied 3.8 percent in 2013.

Gold for April delivery was at $1,575.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York from $1,576.90 on March 8. Assets in exchange- traded products holdings dropped to 2,484.12 metric tons on March 8, the lowest level since September.

Spot platinum dropped 0.5 percent to $1,596.50 an ounce, and cash palladium declined 0.4 percent to $780.20 an ounce after climbing to the most expensive since September 2011 on March 8. Silver retreated 0.2 percent to $28.93 an ounce.

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