By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures slipped Wednesday, as investors paused after pushing the precious metal sharply higher in Tuesday trading.
Gold for February delivery /quotes/zigman/4331913 GCG3 +0.05% traded down $3.10, or 0.2%, at $1,658.90 an ounce in electronic trading during Asian hours.
The precious metal had jumped $15.90 an ounce, or 1%, to settle at $1,662.20 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in regular trading on Tuesday, amid signs of increased demand in Asia. Read: Gold futures score first gain in four sessions
Some analysts see continued demand for gold from China providing support going forward.
“China’s gold production is rising as its imports are increasing. China is simultaneously the world’s largest importer and producer of gold in the world. This pace of demand is likely to support prices, we believe,” said metal strategists at HSBC.
Across the wider metals complex, silver for delivery in March /quotes/zigman/12974267 SIG3 -0.06% slid 10 cents to $30.36 an ounce, while March copper /quotes/zigman/678439 HGH3 +0.37% traded flat at $3.67 per pound.
April platinum /quotes/zigman/8120427 PLJ3 -2.34% lost $2.30 to trade at $1,580.90 an ounce, but March palladium /quotes/zigman/8702805 PAH3 +2.16% /quotes/zigman/8702805 PAH3 +2.16% /quotes/zigman/8702805 PAH3 +2.16% bucked the lower trend with a $6.10 advance to $673.96 an ounce.
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