CHICAGO, Sept. 24 - Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange went sharply down on Thursday as dollar rallied and crude oil weakened, closing below the key level of 1,000 dollars for the first time since September 9th. Silver and platinum both ended much lower.
Gold price for December delivery fell 15.50 U.S. dollars, or 1.5 percent, to finish at 998.90 dollars an ounce, although earlier in the session the contract rose to an intraday high of 1,021 dollars.
The National Association of Realtors said that home sales dropped 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million in August, from a pace of 5.24 million in July. This is the first decline in five months.
The bearish housing data indicated that the U.S. economy recovery is still fragile, making investors go back to dollar for safe-haven. The dollar index, a gauge measuring the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, soared 0.6 percent to 76.839 from 76.346 on late Wednesday by the end of gold floor trading time. Gold moves reversely against dollar for investors usually purchase the precious metal to hedge dollar's depreciation.
Oil prices continued falling sharply after yesterday's plunge due to an unexpected increase of weekly stock, weighing much on gold's trend. The benchmark crude for November delivery in New York fell more than 4 percent, or 2.91 dollars, to settle at 66.06a barrel. Oil has lost almost 8 percent in recent two sessions, hitting the weakest level in 9 weeks.
On job front, the Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 530,000 from an upwardly revised 551,000 the previous week, much better than economists' expectations.
December silver finished at 16.295 dollars per ounce, down 61.5cents. October platinum fell 19.30 dollars to 1,308.50 dollars an ounce.
Gold price for December delivery fell 15.50 U.S. dollars, or 1.5 percent, to finish at 998.90 dollars an ounce, although earlier in the session the contract rose to an intraday high of 1,021 dollars.
The National Association of Realtors said that home sales dropped 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million in August, from a pace of 5.24 million in July. This is the first decline in five months.
The bearish housing data indicated that the U.S. economy recovery is still fragile, making investors go back to dollar for safe-haven. The dollar index, a gauge measuring the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, soared 0.6 percent to 76.839 from 76.346 on late Wednesday by the end of gold floor trading time. Gold moves reversely against dollar for investors usually purchase the precious metal to hedge dollar's depreciation.
Oil prices continued falling sharply after yesterday's plunge due to an unexpected increase of weekly stock, weighing much on gold's trend. The benchmark crude for November delivery in New York fell more than 4 percent, or 2.91 dollars, to settle at 66.06a barrel. Oil has lost almost 8 percent in recent two sessions, hitting the weakest level in 9 weeks.
On job front, the Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 530,000 from an upwardly revised 551,000 the previous week, much better than economists' expectations.
December silver finished at 16.295 dollars per ounce, down 61.5cents. October platinum fell 19.30 dollars to 1,308.50 dollars an ounce.
