Gold prices dip in Asia with physical demand eyed from India, China

Investing.com - Gold prices dipped in Asia on Wednesday though physical demand prospects offered some support in India and China as weaker prices attracted jewelry makers..

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery fell 0.64% to $1,226.50 a troy ounce.

Overnight, gold rose to a 12-week high on Tuesday, before trimming some of those gains as the U.S. dollar strengthened and stock markets rebounded from the previous day's losses.

A day earlier, gold jumped $16.70, or 1.37%, to settle at $1,232.80, as heavy losses in the oil and equity markets drove investors towards traditional safe-haven assets.

Gold remained supported after the latest U.S. jobs report last week showed a surprise drop in hourly wages, suggesting that the Federal Reserve could keep rates on hold for longer.

The precious metal lost nearly 2% in 2014 amid indications a strengthening U.S. economic recovery will force the Fed to start raising interest rates sooner and faster than previously thought.

A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.

Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery slipped 1.86% to $16.837 a troy ounce,.

Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for March delivery plunged 4.82% to $2.478 a pound, after hitting a daily overnight low of $2.639, a level not seen since August 2009.

Strong trade data from China on Tuesday, the world’s largest copper consumer, failed to boost sentiment.

The Asian nation reported a trade surplus of $49.6 billion in December, broadly in line with expectations. Exports jumped 9.7% in December, but imports rose by a smaller-than-forecast 2.4%, pointing to weak domestic demand.

According to the data, China imported 420,000 tons of copper in December, unchanged from November.