* Gold extends losses after one pct drop last week
* Euro zone jitters fail to spark haven demand
* Indian gold demand light before Akshaya Tritiya festival
(Rewrites, updates comment, market activity, adds NY dateline,
changes byline)
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – Gold fell in quiet
trade on Monday on weakness from equities and other commodities
and fading hopes of more U.S. monetary easing could further
weigh on bullion prices.
The metal, which has tended to follow riskier assets, was
pressured by a one-percent drop of the S&P; 500 index on
renewed Europe debt fears. Heavy losses in crude oil and copper
also triggered a sharp sell-off in silver which has a strong
industrial demand component.
Trading volume of U.S. gold futures was sharply below
average after it posted a 2012 low in the previous session, as
some investors have reduced their bullish position in gold amid
a brighter economic outlook.
Sentiment in the gold market remains cautious ahead of an
outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting on Wednesday. Gold
has lost more than $150 an ounce since late February after a
strong run of U.S. economic data dashed hopes of more asset
purchases by the Fed known as quantitative easing (QE).
“Absent any hard evidence of a true QE, there will be more
asset liquidation and we are likely to see more downside than
upside in the gold market,” Frank McGhee, head precious metals
trader at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC.
Spot gold was down 0.6 percent at $1,631.59 an ounce
by 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT). Earlier in the session, gold hit a
low of $1,623.90, around $10 away from its lowest level of the
year.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery settled down
$10.20 an ounce at $1,632.60, after they posted a one-percent
decline last week.
Trading volume was around 115,000 at 2 p.m. On Friday, COMEX
gold volume totalled less than 97,000 lots for its lowest level
since December 2011.
Physical gold demand remained light in major consumer India
even ahead of the Akshaya Tritiya festival on Tuesday, an
auspicious gold buying event.
Among other precious metals, silver fell 3.2 percent
at $30.64 an ounce, spot platinum dropped 1.3 percent at
$1,552.64 an ounce and spot palladium was down 0.6
percent at $667.45 an ounce.
1:45 PM EDT LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold JUN 1632.60 -10.20 -0.6 1623.60 1644.20 105,355
US Silver MAY 30.531 -1.120 -3.5 30.450 31.685 57,238
US Plat JUL 1556.30 -27.90 -1.8 1552.90 1585.10 7,735
US Pall JUN 670.90 -6.00 -0.9 665.00 678.50 2,613
Gold 1631.59 -10.28 -0.6 1623.90 1642.90
Silver 30.640 -1.020 -3.2 30.500 31.680
Platinum 1552.64 -20.91 -1.3 1555.00 1580.00
Palladium 667.45 -3.95 -0.6 666.75 675.50
TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 115,798 189,135 196,467 17.83 0.14
US Silver 82,734 51,628 59,256 27.24 -1.83
US Platinum 7,817 9,772 8,487 19 0.00
US Palladium 3,067 3,327 4,689
(Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)
