Fed

Thursday in Singapore, bullion prices edged lower, but flat within sight of a record high as it headed for an eighth straight quarterly gain, with prospects for a weaker dollar in focus on possible further US monetary easing.

Spot gold lost 60 cents slipping to $1,308.15 an ounce by 4:57 GMT after hitting a lifetime high around $1,313 on Wednesday, that appeared to be its 10th record high in the past 12 trading days.

The precious metal has gained as much as 19.8 percent this year, heading for its 10th consecutive annual gain.

The alpine franc advanced in early European session today, climbing to more than a 2-year high against the US dollar, a fresh multi-month high versus the yen and a 1-week high against the pound. On the other hand, the franc lost some ground versus its euro zone rival. 

During Wednesday early European deals, the 16-nation single, appreciated across the board following the US Fed’s intention to take more steps targeting to support the US economy. The euro thus reached a new 2-month high against the pound, near a 5-month high against the dollar and a 7-week high against the yen.

Wednesday in Singapore, the precious metal soared to a new record high as sentiment remained strong with the US Federal Reserve moving closer to providing more support to the national economy.

Spot gold hit a new record of $1,290.85 an ounce today, before easing to $1,287.95 an ounce by 0457 GMT as bullish sentiment remains strong after the US Federal Reserve inched closer to providing more stimulus for the economy.

In early Asian session on Wednesday the greenback revealed weakness, extending its yesterday's drop as the Fed held rates steady and hinted at the possibility of further quantitative easing if needed to support the economic recovery.

Tuesday in Singapore, precious metal remained steady after surging to a record for the third consecutive session, as investors await the outcome of a meeting of the Fed later in the day.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,278.65 an ounce by 3:16 GMT, easing from the all-time high of $1,283.70 hit on Monday. US gold futures for December delivery stood at $1,280.2.

Still, the longer-term prospects for gold remains bullish, given the uncertainties in the economic recovery, analysts and dealers said.

The 16-nation currency gained ground across the board in early European deals on Monday, spiking vs dollar, pound and yen as domestic equities soared in early trading as investors remained cautious ahead of Tuesday's Federal Reserve meeting. The euro thus hit a 4-day high against the pound. On the other hand, the euro pared its recent gains against the franc and thus the pair fell to a 4-day low, mainly due to the sharp rise of the Swiss currency in the session.

Forecasted US economic growth for the rest of this year and next was cut again for a third month in a row by a panel of about 50 economists.

Thus far, the latest Blue Chip Economic Indicators report released Thursday reflected the weaker outlook for second-half 2010 growth stemmed from lower anticipations for consumer spending, business investment and private construction.

Monday in Sydney, gold flat after it had started trading for the fifth week in a row in positive territory ahead of fresh US economic data that could signal a mixed outlook.

Spot gold was quoted slightly lower at $1,235.35 by 2:35 GMT versus Friday's nominal close of $1,235.70. But with the grab bag of forecasts, dealers said gold might have a tough time retesting the last session's high of $1,242.25 an ounce.

Friday in Shanghai, bullion remained steady as investors waited for a key speech from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke later in the day and expected the US to revise downward its second-quarter economic growth figure.

Spot gold added about $1.06 to stand at $1,236 an ounce by 3:35 GMT, as a weekly rise of 0.7 percent carried it towards its fourth straight week of gains. It hit $1,244.00 on Thursday, its highest since June 30.

Despite US economy is expanding, higher-than-expected number of Americans claimed for unemployment benefits last week.

Thus far, Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped to 464,000 that appeared to be 37,000 growth in the week ended July 17, according to Labor Department data released in Washington.

Citigroup has lowered its full-year global growth forecasts for 2010 and 2011, releasing its strategy report Thursday. Besides, the bank also cut its outlook for China’s 2010 economic expansion by 1%.

According to Ben Bernanke, who claims US economic forecast to be “unusually uncertain", the Federal Reserve stands ready to ease monetary policy further if the budding US economic recovery wanes.  

Thursday in Singapore, bullion eased by 0.5% and is expected to revisit its weakest level in two months as investors sold bullion to cover equities losses ahead of Europe's bank stress test results later this week.

Tuesday in London, bullion hovered $1,180 an ounce as lower prices tempted some buyers back to the market after prices slipped to two-month lows in the previous session, but the technical picture remained weak.