Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold settled lower Monday, sliding off a record settlement the previous session as U.S. lawmakers prepared to vote on a deal to raise the debt ceiling and deal with deficits. The metal had traded higher after a gauge of manufacturing activity fell short of forecasts. But the vote on the debt ceiling and gold�s recent record run weighed. �Gold certainly deserves a little rest,� said James Cordier, a portfolio manager with Optionsellers.com in Florida. Gold futures for December delivery declined $9.50, or 0.6%, to $1,621.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold had traded as low as $1,608.20 an ounce near the start of U.S. stock trading, but got some steam after the weaker-than-expected manufacturing data. The Institute for Supply Management reported Monday its index fell to 50.9% in July, its worst in two years. That was the latest in a string of high marks for the metal as the debt-ceiling deadline approached amid fears U.S. debt might be downgraded. A pullback for gold is likely temporary, Cordier said. �A lot of people are pulling back the layers of the onion and finding out this deal has no teeth,� he said. �It just got us over the hump … the bullish fundamentals for gold have not changed that much.� See full story.