Investing.com — Gold prices fell from near record highs in Asian trading on Tuesday as a recovery in stock markets somewhat undermined safe-haven demand, although fragile sentiment still kept the yellow metal relatively bullish.
Gold rose close to record highs on Monday after a crash in global stock markets sent traders straight to safe havens such as bullion and the yen. Increased expectations of a US recession and interest rate cuts boosted gold prices and dented the dollar.
Anticipation of reprisals by Iran and Hamas against Israel for the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran also kept demand for safe havens high.
fell 0.3% to $2,402.57 per ounce, while the December maturity at 01:50 ET (05:50 GMT) fell 0.1% to $2,443.0 per ounce. Spot prices had risen to $2,460 an ounce earlier this week.
Gold weakens as the dollar becomes more stable and stocks recover
The yellow metal saw some weakness on Tuesday as the dollar recovered from a near seven-month low.
A sharp recovery in equity markets also undermined safe-haven demand for the yellow metal, as risk-driven assets benefited from a period of favorable buying.
But gold still retained much of its recent gains as the prospect of lower interest rates also boosted flows into the yellow metal. Lower interest rates bode well for gold as they lower the opportunity cost of investing in the metal.
Other precious metals benefited from this trade but suffered steep losses in recent sessions as they had relatively less safe-haven appeal than gold.
was steady at $918.85 per ounce, while down 0.7% to $27,020 per ounce.
Copper is grappling with steep losses amid recession fears
Among industrial metals, copper prices fell on Tuesday, with continued losses on US recession fears and uncertainty about China.
The benchmark on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.6% to $8,806.50 per tonne, while the index fell almost 1% in one month to $3.9660 per pound.
Markets feared a recession in the US after a series of disappointing labor market data and signs of slowing manufacturing activity.
Weak production data from China added to these concerns and hurt buyers with the prospect of a global demand slowdown.
The focus this week is on more economic data from China, especially those that will be released later in the week.
