Gold ETFs lost more than 1% on Monday along with bullion prices to fall into the red for 2012.
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) declined 1.3% in afternoon trade and touched a session low of $151 a share. It was the first time this year GLD has fallen below its 2011 closing price of $151.99 a share.
Gold prices are stuck under $1,600 an ounce and futures are trading at the lowest levels in over four months. Fears that Greece will leave the euro are driving investors to U.S. Treasury bonds and pushing the dollar higher.
“Gold is under severe pressure. The U.S. dollar is being seen as a safe haven at the moment and as long as the dollar is appreciating against the euro this is clearly weighing on the gold price,” said Daniel Briesemann, Commerzbank analyst, in a Reuters report Monday.
The dollar climbed to a three-month high versus the euro, according to Bloomberg News.
Still, investors in bullion-backed exchange traded products haven’t been shaken by gold’s recent slide.
“While the pace of inflows has slowed each year since 2009, they’re holding more of the metal than all but four central banks,” according to the article.
However, net long positions in gold by hedge funds and money managers are at the lowest level since December 2008.
This bearish sentiment is an indicator that gold “may be approaching levels attractive to longer-term investors,” ETF Securities analysts said Monday. [Gold ETFs Decline in Risk-Off Trade]
SPDR Gold Shares
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own GLD.