2014.07.2423:42:05UTC+00Second losing week ahead for gol

Second losing week ahead for gold

Gold has taken a hit with growth looking strong in various markets setting it up for another weekly decline.

Prices for an ounce of spot gold dropped 0.1% mid morning Singapore time today to $1,292.63. The precious metal fell severely yesterday when it saw its value go down to $1,287.80, its lowest in over a month, and put it on track to lose a total of 1.4% this week. Gold is set to mark a decrease in value this month after rebounding by 10% during the first six months of 2014.

Futures with a delivery date in December in New York’s Comex are also headed for a weekly loss even though it has gained 0.1% so far today for a price per ounce of $1,294.10.

Helping decrease demand for the safe haven commodity are indicators of economic strength in several regions of the world. In China, a measure of its manufacturing sector climbed to its highest in 18 months in July and claims for unemployment benefits in the US dropped to its lowest since February 2006. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of equities notched another record high.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group analysts said that “Positive economic data put a dampener on the gold market, as risk assets caught a bid and safe-haven buying dried up.”

Preliminary data from the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics gave China’s manufacturing a score of 52 exceeding market expectations from a Bloomberg survey of a score of 51. Yesterday’s report from the US Labor Department showed jobless claims fell to 284,000 in the week that ended on July 19, 19,000 less than the previous week.

Silver declined as well to a price per ounce of $20.327 for a loss of 0.3% while both palladium and platinum increased by 0.1% to a price of $870.55 and $1,469.75  per ounce respectively.