Run-up in gold trails off as CME hikes margins

Gold futures fell the most in seven weeks after CME Group Inc. boosted margins on Comex contracts, prompting investor sales after a three-day rally to a record topping $1,800 an ounce and as equities rebounded. CME Group, owner of the world's largest futures market, raised margins on gold contracts by 22 percent. The minimum amount of cash that speculators must keep on deposit for an initial account increased to $7,425 on a 100-ounce contract from $6,075. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose as much as 3.2 percent after a drop in U.S. jobless claims. “The strength in equities, coupled with the increase in margins, is pushing gold down,” Matthew Zeman, a strategist at Kingsview Financial in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “Investors are waiting for a deeper correction before they start buying again.” Gold futures for December delivery declined $27.80, or 1.6 percent, to $1,756.50 at 11:35 a.m. on the Comex in New York. A close at the price would mark the biggest drop for a most-active contract since June 23. Earlier, the metal climbed as much as 1.9 percent to a record $1,817.60. The price jumped 8 percent in the previous three days after S&P cut the U.S. credit rating one level from the top AAA grade on Aug. 5. Before today, gold surged 49 percent in the past year on demand for an investment haven as U.S. and European debt escalated. On Aug. 8, the S&P 500 tumbled to an 11-month low. ‘Pullback Welcomed' “Considering the large price swings in gold this week, it is not altogether surprising that CME has reacted,” Edel Tully, an analyst at UBS AG in London, said in a report. “While some corrective price action is very likely for gold, particularly from the fresh longs put on this week, any pullback will be welcomed by investors who have been waiting for a better buying opportunity.” Dennis Gartman, who correctly forecast the slump in commodities in 2008, said he was “surprised” that gold hasn't declined more after the CME announcement. “This is long overdue, and the CME is correct in having done so,” Gartman said in his Suffolk, Virginia-based newsletter. Gold may rebound on European fiscal woes, Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, said in a report. “Escalating fears over peripheral debt troubles in the euro zone and of a sovereign downgrade on France, with the country's banking sector taking a heavy hit yesterday due to hefty exposure to Italy,” may boost demand for gold as a haven, Kryuchenkov said. Silver futures for September delivery fell $1.052, or 2.7 percent, to $38.275 an ounce in New York. --Bloomberg News--