Gold flat, eyes monthly gain on Ukraine tensions

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Gold prices edged lower on Friday as stock markets wavered on both sides of the Atlantic, and remained on track to end the month with a small gain.


Investors remain on edge over tensions between Russia and Ukraine after Ukraine said on Thursday that Russia had moved troops into the country.

However, the impact of the escalating conflict has not been enough to sustain gold price increases.
Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,288 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,289 an ounce.

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Prices are up about 0.5 percent this month, having recovered after falling briefly to a two-month low at $1,273.06 last week. Spot prices have traded in a range of less than $50 in August, their narrowest spread in five years.

"(Gold) has not been able to determine what theme to latch onto," Saxo Bank's head of commodities research Ole Hansen said. "Activity remains subdued as a result."

Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change	Volume
GOLD	Gold (Dec'14)	1287.50		-2.90	-0.22%	68494
GOLD/USD	Gold / US Dollar Spot	1286.26		-3.48	-0.27%	---
SILV/USD	Silver / US Dollar Spot	19.42		-0.13	-0.66%	---
SILVER	Silver (Dec'14)	19.505		-0.104	-0.53%	24489
PALL/USD	Palladium / US Dollar Spot	902.00		9.00	1.01%	---
PLAT/USD	Platinum / US Dollar Spot	1416.40		-3.60	-0.25%	---

"The ECB meeting and U.S. job report (next week) may jolt it back to life, but currently it's on life support, having clocked the smallest weekly range in two months."

The euro lifted off lows and European shares sagged on Friday as a new five-year low in euro zone inflation was viewed as not extreme enough to drive the European Central Bank back into its increasingly bare policy cupboard.
 
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A recent run of positive U.S. data has fueled speculation the Federal Reserve will further pare its gold-friendly monetary stimulus measures, removing support from the precious metal.
U.S. consumer sentiment rose in August, while an index of current economic conditions hit its highest since July 2007, a survey released on Friday showed.

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The physical market in Asia saw purchases from jewelry makers this week, but buying interest began to subside as prices improved slightly.
Premiums to spot London prices for gold bars in Hong Kong stood at 80 cents to $1.10, and at 80 cents to $1.00 in Singapore. In Tokyo, gold bars were on par with London prices.

—By Reuters