Gold Silver Reports — Gold traded near a two-week low as speculation that the U.K. will vote to stay in the European Union curbed demand for a haven.
Gold Still Traded Near a 2-week Low
Bookmakers’ odds indicate there’s only about a one-in-four chance that Britons will choose to leave the EU in Thursday’s referendum, even though opinion polls suggest the vote is too close to call. Investors have become more optimistic in the past few days as the odds of an exit declined after the murder of a U.K. lawmaker who favored staying in the EU.
“All eyes in the gold market are on the Brexit vote,” Thorsten Proettel, a commodity analyst at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart, said by phone. “The odds of an out-vote have come down since late last week. Even rates expectations are taking a back-seat to what is happening in the U.K.”
Bullion for immediate delivery lost 0.3 percent to $1,264.48 an ounce in London. Prices earlier touched the lowest since June 9 and a third day of declines would be the longest run since May.
Prices Retreat
Gold has eased from an almost two-year high set last week. Prices are still up 19 percent this year as the Federal Reserve signaled it would keep interest rates low. Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday laid out a cautious view of the economy in testimony before lawmakers, reiterating that the U.K. leaving the EU could have “significant economic repercussions.”
An index of odds compiled by Oddschecker puts the probability of a U.K. vote to remain at 80 percent, up from from 63 percent on June 14.
Investors are still adding to holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by gold. Assets rose for a 16th consecutive day to 1,905.1 metric tons as of Tuesday. That’s the highest since October 2013. — Neal Bhai Reports
