Gold prices dip. Pessimism or Columbus Day quiet?
Gold prices fell on Monday as concerns over the global economic outlook and its impact on the coming corporate earnings season weighed on investor sentiment. But national holidays in the US and Japan were expected to limit trading activity and may have been partially responsible for the dip in gold prices.
Gold bars are seen at the US Mint at West Point in West Point, N.Y.,in this May 2012 file photo.Gold prices edged down 0.02 percent Monday.
Mike Groll/AP/File
London
European stocks, oil and聽gold聽prices fell on Monday as concerns over the global economic outlook and its impact on the coming corporate earnings season weighed on investor sentiment.
罢丑别听World Bank聽cut its estimate for East Asian growth including for聽China, and this has undone some of the positive sentiment that followed Friday's sharp drop in U.S. unemployment for September.
"The big bogeyman in the closet is聽China聽and everyone is trying to guesstimate if it's going to have a hard landing or a soft landing," said聽Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in聽Brussels.
However, national holidays in聽Japan聽and the聽United States聽on Monday were expected to limit trading activity.
The pan-European聽FTSEurofirst 300聽was down 0.7 percent at 1,103.51 points in early trade with the German DAX down 0.8 percent despite data showing an unexpected jump in German exports during August.
Seasonally adjusted exports jumped 2.4 percent month-on-month, far outperforming expectations for a drop of 0.5 percent and beating even the highest forecast in a Reuters poll of 17 economists for a 0.5 percent rise.
"It is incredible how German exports are winning in such a tough environment," said DekaBank economist聽Andreas Scheuerle.
The signs of strength in聽Europe's biggest economy failed to help to the euro which was down 0.4 percent at $1.2975.
The fragile economic outlook saw Brent crude for November delivery fall 90 cents at $111.12 a barrel, while the聽gold聽price edged down 0.2 percent to $1,777.89 an ounce.
In聽Europe聽investors are also focused on a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later. They will formally launch the region's new permanent bailout fund and are expected to discuss the problems facing聽Spain听补苍诲听Greece.
But they are not expected to make major progress in solving the debt crisis so聽German government聽bond futures were ticking higher in early trade.