Gold Falls in London After Price Rally Deters Jewelry Buyers
\nApril 4 (Bloomberg)<\/p>\n
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Gold declined in London after prices for the precious metal, which yesterday touched a 25-year high, deterred jewelry buyers.
\nCustomers in India, the world’s largest gold jewelry market, and in the Middle East have curbed purchases because of gold’s rally, London-based consultant Virtual Metals said yesterday in a report. Demand will lag behind production by 422 metric tons in 2006, compared with a production shortfall last year of 310 tons, Virtual Metals said.<\/p>\n
“At these prices, there is no physical demand in Europe or elsewhere,” said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales and marketing at precious-metals company Heraeus Metallhandels GmbH, in Hanau, Germany.<\/p>\n
Gold for immediate delivery fell as much as $3.02, or 0.5 percent, to $584.83 an ounce. The bullion traded at $586.70 at 11:09 a.m. London time. It traded at $591.92 yesterday, the highest since January 1981.<\/p>\n
Gold demand from jewelers dropped 15 percent in the fourth quarter, the largest decline since the first quarter of 2002, the London-based World Gold Council said in February.<\/p>\n
Jewelry demand, which accounts for about 75 percent of gold purchases, isn’t expected to be “good” in the first quarter, Jill Leyland, an economist at the council, said in an interview yesterday.<\/p>\n
Demand for bullion fell in the fourth-quarter to 943 metric tons, from 1,108 tons a year earlier, according to the producer- funded World Gold Council.<\/p>\n
Jewelry demand may come back once “prices are seen to have stabilized,” Leyland said.<\/p>\n
Palladium also dropped, declining $7.50 to $336 an ounce. Platinum slipped $2 to $$1,074 and silver was unchanged at $11.735.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gold Falls in London After Price Rally Deters Jewelry Buyers April 4 (Bloomberg) Gold declined in London after prices for the precious metal, which yesterday touched a 25-year high, deterred jewelry buyers. Customers in India, the world’s largest gold jewelry market, and in the Middle East have curbed purchases because of gold’s rally, London-based consultant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[411],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n