Gold loses $40, ends near two-month low

MarketWatch (02/10) SAN FRANCISCO — Gold futures dropped more than $40 an ounce Tuesday to mark their lowest settlement in almost two months, failing to find safe-haven support with some investors expecting the U.S. government shutdown to be short lived. Gold for December delivery dropped $40.90 ounce, or 3.1%, to settle at $1,286.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, tracking the most-active contracts, saw their biggest one-day dollar loss since June 26, FactSet data show. They also settled at their lowest level since Aug. 7. On Monday, gold fell $12.20, or nearly 1%, to settle at $1,327 an ounce, but marked the first quarterly gain in a year. A short shutdown has a minimal impact on the broader economy and does not change the Federal Reserve’s timetable on tapering quantitative easing, according to Wright. Besides, the “bigger battle comes in two weeks with the debt ceiling. No deal on the debt ceiling will lead to safe-haven demand from all quarters and should cause a run on the U.S. dollar.” http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-bid-higher-as-us-shutdown-begins-2013-10-01