Gold eases in Asia on speculative selling

SINGAPORE, Mar 17 (Commodity Online): Gold prices dropped in Asian trade Thursday, from the $1400 mark performance of Wednesday, on fresh concerns over speculative selling of precious metals. Spot gold was seen trading at $1393.57 an ounce at 12.30pm Singapore time, while US April-delivery contract on the comex division of Nymex was at $1,393.77 an ounce at the same time. The precious gold is likely to comeback as Japan's nuclear crisis intensified, forcing investors to rely on gold's safe haven status, analysts said. They said gold demand had surged in the past months as unrest in North Africa and the Middle East damped demand for riskier assets. However they said rise in ETF holdings suggested weaker prices had spurred buying interest. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings edged up to 1,217.295 tonnes by March 16 from 1,212.745 tonnes by March 15, their lowest since May of last year. Meanwhile, Silver, Palladium and platinum all dropped with silver eased after climbing to a 31-year high of $36.7525 last week. Palladium for immediate delivery dropped as much as 1.5 per cent to $688.25 an ounce, the lowest level since Nov. 30. Platinum decreased as much as 2.2 per cent to $1,657.75 an ounce, it lowest in more than three months. Palladium and platinum have more industrial uses than gold. Japan alone accounts for more than 20 per cent of these metals. Gold contract for April delivery climbed $3.3 , or 0.2 per cent, to $1,396.1 per ounce Wednesday.