Gold extended losses to trade below $900 an ounce on Wednesday, as a sharp decline in oil prices lowered the metal’s appeal as a hedge against inflation.

Other precious metals followed gold, with platinum slipping more than 3 percent, silver falling 1.8 percent and palladium dropping around 1 percent in a broad commodities sell-off.

Gold fell about 2 percent to a two-week low of $889.35 am ounce and was quoted at $893.70/894.70 at 1007 GMT, against $907.10/908.30 in New York late on Tuesday, when if fell about 2 percent.

“Whenever we get a weaker dollar and stronger oil, it’s fantastic for gold and the reverse is playing out now,” said Nick Moore, global commodity analyst with ABN AMRO. “It’s a general commodity sell-off that we’re seeing which has embraced not only oil but also industrial metals and precious metals. This pullback is good for gold. This is a chance for them (physical buyers) before gold has its next run.”

Oil fell more than $2 a barrel, extending a slide from the previous session amid growing signs Asian demand could start to falter as consumer nations look to cut subsidies by raising local fuel prices.

Gold often moves in the opposite direction of the dollar. “With the most of the recent gains in gold coming largely from the rally in crude oil, it is obvious that as crude retraces back, gold would reflect that too,” Read Full Article

Gold prices shed more than 2 percent on Wednesday as the dollar gained ground against the euro, prompting bullion investors to liquidate long positions amid weak buying sentiment, traders said.

Spot gold sank to an intraday low of $897.10 an ounce and was at $905.50/906.70 by New York’s last quote at 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), well below levels of $920.65/922.05 late in New York trade on Tuesday.

People were unwinding their long positions on gold, after the metal’s recent rally, said analyst Daniel Hynes of Merrill Lynch:

“We’ve seen net long positions on the COMEX decrease recently and I think we’re seeing a continuation of that movement out of gold just at the moment,” he said.

The U.S. active gold contract for June delivery settled down $16.20, or 1.8 percent, at $909 an ounce.

Gold held in New York-listed StreetTRACKS Gold Shares, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to 623.41 tonnes on Tuesday from 641.82 tonnes the previous day.

The metal hit a three-week high of $952.60 last week, but attempts to stay above $950 were met by profit-taking. Dealers noted some physical demand, but it was not enough to trigger another rally toward last month’s record $1,030.80.

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By Sam Jones - Dispute over sunken ship involves US firm, Spain and Peru, and raises British fears

The crew of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes must have thought their ship had fought its final battle on the morning of October 5 1804. A little after 10 o’clock, their seven-month voyage from Peru, via Uruguay, to almost within sight of the Iberian peninsula came to an end with the British broadside that sent the treasure-laden frigate and 200 souls to the bottom of the Atlantic and brought Spain into the Napoleonic wars.

But after lying undisturbed on the seabed off Portugal for more than two centuries, the Mercedes is now at the centre of the biggest treasure grab in history.

The battle for ownership of its £254m cargo of gold and silver coins, which has already pitted a US treasure-hunting company against the Spanish government, has been joined by a third party. An emotive campaign is welling up from within Peru to reclaim the treasures the conquistadores and their descendants took by force over the course of almost three centuries.

Last May, the Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration announced that it had recovered 500,000 gold and silver coins weighing 17 tonnes from a wreck in international waters in the Atlantic and flown them back to the US from Gibraltar. Read the full Guardian Story