Gold Snaps 6-Day Loss To End Marginally Higher

(RTTNews) - Gold futures snapped a six-day loss to end a shade higher Wednesday, with the dollar trending lower against a basket of major currencies, even as investors continue to ponder over the U.S. Federal Reserve's plans to tone down its quantitative easing program, anticipating more cues from Fed officials during the week.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, moved up $2.80 or 0.2 percent to close at $1,285.30 an ounce Wednesday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold for December delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,289.00 and a low of $1,271.80 an ounce.

Yesterday, gold settled below the $1,300-mark for the first time in three weeks on continued uncertainties over the U.S. Federal Reserve's plans to scale down its quantitative easing program following a slew of recent upbeat macroeconomic data. Some subdued physical demand from India and China also weighed down the precious metal, even as the dollar declined.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 915.04 tons from 917.14 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 81.27 on Wednesday, down from 81.62 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 81.82 intraday and a low of 81.26.

The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.3335 on Wednesday, as compared to $1.3305 late Tuesday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3341 intraday and a low of $1.3266.

In economic news from the eurozone, Germany's industrial production increased in June at a faster rate than expected by economists, latest data showed. Industrial production increased a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent month-on-month in June, recovering from the previous month's revised 0.8 percent decrease, preliminary estimates from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology showed. Economists had forecast output to rise 0.3 percent, following May's originally recorded 1 percent fall.

Switzerland's consumer prices remained unchanged in July from a year ago, after falling 0.1 percent in June, the Federal Statistical Office said. Economists had forecast prices to drop 0.1 percent.

Elsewhere, Bank of England issued an explicit guidance on the future conduct of monetary policy. The Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mark Carney, "intends at a minimum to maintain the current highly stimulative stance of monetary policy until economic slack has been substantially reduced, provided this does not entail material risks to either price stability or financial stability", the central bank said in a statement.