Gold moves up as stocks ease

Gold prices rose 100 baht per baht weight at its opening at 9.21am on Saturday.

The Gold Traders Association announced the buying price at 18,550 baht and the selling price at 18,650 baht per baht-weight for gold bars.

The buying price for gold ornaments was 18,282.96 while their selling price was 19,050 baht per baht-weight.

The prices were adjusted three times on Friday, ending flat from the previous close on Tuesday. The local market closed on Wednesday and Thursday for the New Year holiday.  

In world markets, gold futures rallied from a four-week low as US equities declined, boosting demand for the metal as an alternative investment, Bloomberg reported from New York today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of equities erased an earlier advance after data showed US manufacturing expanded less than forecast in December. Gold dropped 1.5% last year as the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 stock gauges climbed to records.

“We got some gold buying at the same time stocks sold off,” George Gero, a precious-metals strategist at RBC Capital Markets in New York, told Bloomberg. “It’s all about asset allocation for the beginning of the year.”

Gold futures for February delivery gained 0.2% to settle at $1,186.20 an ounce at 1.44pm on the Comex in New York. Earlier, prices touched $1,167.30, the lowest since Dec 1, as the dollar climbed to a 4 1/2-year high against the euro.

Trading was 22% below the 100-day average for this time, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Gold last year posted a consecutive annual loss for the first time since 1998.