London: Gold fell for the fifth straight session on Wednesday, hitting a three-week low as the dollar strengthened to a six-week high versus the euro after weak euro zone data. While gold has recovered around 7 per cent from a two-year trough of $1.321.35 an ounce hit in mid-April, its safe-haven appeal has been battered by record-high US equities and signs of an improving US economy.
Spot gold fell 0.8 per cent to $1,414.56 an ounce at 1000 GMT, having touched its lowest since April 23 at $1,408.19 earlier. Bullion was on track to post a daily fall for a fifth consecutive session, its longest run of losses since January 2011. It has fallen more than 14 per cent so far in 2013 after gaining for the past 12 years. US gold futures for June fell 0.8 per cent to $1,413.70 an ounce.
"The dollar is very robust and seems poised for more strength in the coming months, adding further pressure to technically weak gold prices," VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said. The dollar rose to a six-week high against the euro after surprisingly weak first-quarter economic growth numbers from Germany and France, while European shares were mixed, taking a breather from a sharp rally.
While a weak European growth outlook lifts the chance of another interest rate cut by the European Central Bank, the US economy showing signs of a recovery underpins expectations that the Federal Reserve may wind down its asset purchases programme by the
05:10 PM, May 15, 2013
Washington: US immigration authorities would give preference to better-educated and trained visa-seekers who can contribute to the American economy under a less-noticed provision of the immigration bill in the US Congress. The bi-partisan bill in the US Senate would rewrite the half-century-old standards that control legal immigration to favor skills over family ties. The winners of this proposed "merit-based" system, experts say, would be primarily from Asia, particularly from India,...
01:07 PM, May 05, 2013
Washington: At a time when the US is facing economic strain and automatic budgetary cuts is in place, President Barack Obama will return five per cent of his salary amounting to $20,000 to the Department of Treasury. The salary of the US President is $400,000 per annum (over Rs 2 crore) and in a show of solidarity he will return $20,000 (over Rs 10 lakh). "Obama instructed his staff he...
09:46 AM, Apr 04, 2013
With US stock market indices more than doubling since the financial crisis and the American housing market recovering, there are increasing hopes on Wall Street that a wider "wealth effect" could set in. ...
08:30 AM, Mar 06, 2013
Just hours after across-the-board spending cuts officially took effect, President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Saturday to work with him on a compromise to halt a fiscal crisis he said was starting to "inflict pain" on communities across the United States. ...
08:01 PM, Mar 02, 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday said that emerging middle class in countries like India means more jobs and income for America while making his first major foreign policy speech as the top US diplomat. ...
12:35 AM, Feb 21, 2013
Key equity benchmarks ended trade in the red however off the day's low. The BSE Sensex closed down 61.97 points at 19435.21 after touching an intraday low of 19,381.82. ...
09:39 AM, Feb 15, 2013
The text of US President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, released by the White House as prepared for delivery. ...
08:17 AM, Feb 13, 2013
US President Barack Obama declared the nation is unquestionably stronger on Tuesday night in in his first State of the Union address since winning re-election, though he conceded America's economic revival is an "unfinished task". ...
07:59 AM, Feb 13, 2013
In an exclusive interview to CNN, Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani said that he was bullish on India and that he was more than thrilled with the India growth story. ...
11:21 AM, Feb 11, 2013
Washington: One day after a bruising, mixed-verdict election, President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner both pledged on Wednesday to seek a compromise to avert looming spending cuts and tax increases that threaten to plunge the economy back into recession. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev said "Of course" an agreement is possible. While all three men spoke in general terms, Boehner stressed that Republicans would be willing...
07:09 AM, Nov 08, 2012
Washington: Upper-income Americans may face a tax increase. Auto fuel economy standards might be raised. Stocks of construction and engineering companies could benefit. America's decision to re-elect President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney will affect all that and other elements of the U.S. economy and financial system - from the health care law to the overhaul of financial rules. At the same time, a gridlocked Congress will limit Obama's influence....
03:40 AM, Nov 08, 2012
Washington: Barack Obama won re-election on Tuesday night, but the president faces a fresh challenge confronting the "fiscal cliff," a mix of tax increases and spending cuts due to extract some $600 billion from the economy barring a deal with Congress. At stake are two separate issues - individual tax cuts due to expire at year's end and tens of billions of dollars in across-the-board federal spending cuts due to...
11:50 AM, Nov 07, 2012
Denver: In a showdown at close quarters, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney sparred aggressively in their first campaign debate on Wednesday night over taxes, deficits and strong steps needed to create jobs in a sputtering national economy. "The status quo is not going to cut it," declared the challenger. Obama in turn accused his rival of seeking to "double down" on economic policies that actually led to the...
08:59 AM, Oct 04, 2012
Denver: In the first face-off between US President Barack Obama and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the two leaders took on each other over the US economy. While Romney pushed for more tax cuts, saying middle class Americans were burdened by increasing costs, Obama vouched for tax breaks for companies that invest in the US. Obama accused his rival of seeking to "double down on the top-down policies" that led to...
07:58 AM, Oct 04, 2012
Washington: The US Federal Reserve appears set to launch a third round of unconventional monetary stimulus on Thursday while signaling that a weak US economy may warrant ultra-low interest rates for at least another three years. Not everyone believes the Fed will embark on another bond-buying spree, and plenty of doubts remain about the likely efficacy of such a move. But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has made clear the central...
06:00 PM, Sep 13, 2012
Washington: High unemployment isn't going away - not as long as the economy grows as slowly as it did in the April-June quarter. Weak consumer spending held growth to an annual rate of just 1.5 per cent, even less than the 2 per cent rate in the first quarter. And few expect the economy to accelerate in the second half of the year as Europe's financial woes and a US...
07:40 AM, Jul 28, 2012
Washington: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday offered a gloomy view of the economy's prospects, but provided few concrete clues on whether the US central bank was moving closer to a fresh round of monetary stimulus. Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee the economic recovery was being held back by anxiety over Europe's debt crisis and the path of US fiscal policy, and he expressed unease over a stagnant...
07:27 AM, Jul 18, 2012
Washington: US President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has sharply attacked his Republican rival Mitt Romney, accusing him of employing double standards and "breathtaking hypocrisy" in comparing the economic records of the two candidates. Obama's senior campaign strategist David Axelrod doubted whether Romney's record as Massachusetts Governor could be touted as that of a 'job creator'. "By almost every measure, Governor Romney's jobs record in Massachusetts was undistinguished, and yet he...
11:04 AM, Jun 05, 2012
Washington: Another bad month for the US job market is lengthening the list of perils facing the global economy. American employers added only 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year and not even close to what economists expected. For the first time since June, the unemployment rate rose, to 8.2 per cent from 8.1 per cent. It was the third month in a row of weak job growth...
11:02 AM, Jun 02, 2012
