NEW YORK/LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters): Gold fell in choppy trade on Wednesday after a poll showed weaker support among Swiss voters for a referendum that would force the central bank to boost its gold reserves.
The metal's price slid as much as 1.8 per cent after the opinion poll showed support for the Swiss gold proposal slipped to 38 per cent from 44 per cent in October.
Under the proposal, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) would be banned from selling any of its gold reserves and would have to hold at least 20 per cent of its assets in the metal, compared with 7.8 per cent last month.
"The fact that the poll for the Swiss Gold Referendum fell short of majority may have aided the market's sell-off," said Carlos Sanchez, director of commodities and asset management at CPM Group in New York.
"Gold has been on a long-term downward trend and it's much easier to sell into any weakness," Sanchez said.
Gold prices later pared losses to trade slightly lower. While the reason for bullion's reversal was not immediately clear, analysts said that its earlier sell-off was overdone.
Spot gold was down 0.3 per cent at $1,193.15 an ounce by 12:31 p.m. EST (1731 GMT), off a low of $1,175.50.
US COMEX gold futures for December delivery were down $3.60 an ounce at $1,193.50.
On Tuesday, gold peaked at $1,204.70, its highest since Oct. 30. This month, it slid to a 4-1/2 year low of $1,131.85.
Trade was volatile as jittery traders awaited Federal Reserve minutes, which will be scoured for clues on when the Fed will raise U.S. rates, a move that could reduce demand for non-interest-bearing gold.
Silver was up 1 per cent at $16.33 an ounce. GFMS analysts at Thomson Reuters said on Tuesday that silver demand would fall 7 per cent in 2014 because of a slower pace of buying by jewelers and industrial fabricators.
Platinum fell 0.5 per cent to $1,195.50 an ounce, while palladium edged down 0.2 per cent to $769.50 an ounce.
