Gold Silver Reports — Europeans are paying the least in six months to buy gold as the euro climbs amid speculation the European Central Bank is poised to withdraw unprecedented monetary stimulus.

Gold touched 1087.01 euros on Thursday, the lowest since December, as the shared currency climbed to 13-month highs against the dollar. While a lower greenback usually fuels demand for bullion, gold has slipped this week after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the reflation of the euro-area economy creates room to pull back monetary stimulus. That sent yields higher, damping the allure of non-interest bearing bullion.  

Gold priced in euros is down more than 10 percent from its 2017 peak in April. Bullion is being kept in check by record-high equity prices and higher U.S. bond yields, which point to rising risk appetite, analysts at Commerzbank AG said in a report Thursday.

The market thinks the ECB “may be concluding quantitative easing, and maybe we could be at a low point as far as the bottom of a cycle,” Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. We could also see economic growth and higher rates in the region, he said. Gold will continue to trade in the $1,240 to $1,260 range, according to Streible.  

Gold futures for August delivery, priced in dollars, fell 0.3 percent to settle at $1,245.80 an ounce at 1:38 p.m on the Comex in New York, the first drop in three days.

In other metals:

Silver futures for September delivery slid 0.8 percent to $16.654 an ounce on the Comex.

Platinum for October delivery dropped 0.1 percent on the New York Mercantile

Exchange, while the September palladium contract fell 1 percent.

Europeans Paying Least This Year to Buy Gold on Currency Gains | Neal Bhai Reports | Gold Silver Reports