Gold prices dropped on Tuesday, August 22, under pressure from a stronger dollar ahead of an annual meeting of central bankers this week, while speculative buying pushed
palladium to its highest since February 2001.
Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,284.78 an ounce at 1143 GMT. That compares with last week’s peak at $1,300.8 its highest since early November. U.S. gold futures slid 0.5
percent to $1,290.60 an ounce.
Investors are waiting for speeches by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at Jackson Hole Wyoming, for clues to the direction of interest and currency rates.
On the technical front, trendline support comes in at $1,274, which is also near the 21-day moving average. Resistance at $1,300, is followed by $1,325, the 100-month moving average.
Silver gained 0.1 percent to $16.99 an ounce, and platinum slipped 0.9 percent to $969.00.
Palladium was down 0.7 percent at $932.00 an ounce, after earlier touching $940.
“Palladium has been pushed up by speculative funds, there is nothing in the fundamentals to justify these levels,” a precious metals trader said, adding that a slowdown in U.S. auto sales over coming months would spike the bubble.
Both platinum and palladium are used to make autocatalysts. But platinum is predominantly used in diesel engines and palladium in gasoline engines, which dominate the U.S. market. U.S. light vehicle and passenger car sales in July fell 7
and 13.8 percent respectively from a year earlier.
