Daily Gold Update

Source: MarketWatch

New York— Gold futures ended Thursday's volatile trading down for a second session, as the U.S. dollar traded mixed following big rate cuts by major European central banks. Gold for February delivery, the most active contract, closed down $5, or 0.6%, at $765.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped to as low as $763 earlier, the lowest since Nov. 20, but also rose to $790. The front-month December contract, which expires on Dec. 29, also ended lower at $763.80. Open interest, or the number of outstanding contracts of the December contract, stood at 1,637 Thursday, or 163,700 ounces, according to Comex data. Gold inventories held by the Comex for futures delivery stood at 2,918,028 ounces as of Wednesday, up 10,004 ounces from a day ago, according to latest data from the exchange.

In currencies trading, the dollar erased earlier gains against the euro but was still higher against the British pound. The dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of its major rivals, fell 1.3%. Gold prices, denominated in dollars, tend to move in the opposite direction of the greenback. See full story.