Gold braces for lower prices

|By Luzi-Ann Javier| Central bankers are putting gold investors and traders on the defensive.

More than 2,500 lots exchanged hands Friday for a put option giving owners the right to sell October futures at $1,300 an ounce, making it the most-traded option for the second straight day. The most active contract on the Comex slipped as much as 0.6 percent to $1,334.10. Holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by gold fell for a second day on Thursday.

There’s reason to be worried. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren, who shifted his stance in recent months in favor of monetary tightening, warned Friday that waiting too long to raise interest rates risks overheating the economy. Higher rates make bullion less competitive against interest-bearing assets. The comments come a day after the European Central Bank played down the prospect of an increase in asset purchases.

“The markets are quite nervous that an interest-rate hike might actually happen this month,” Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago, said by telephone. “Investors and traders know that gold futures have held above $1,300 and this looks like a key level of support. It’s rational for investors to be looking at protective put options at $1,300 in the event a surprise interest rate increase occurs.”

Gold futures for December delivery fell 0.5 percent to settle at $1,334.50 an ounce at 1:44 p.m. on the Comex in New York, marking the third straight loss, the worst streak since July 12.

A 2016 voter on the Federal Open Market Committee, Rosengren argued for years to combat unemployment with low rates. In a speech Friday, Rosengren said that a “failure to continue on the path of gradual removal of accommodation could shorten, rather than lengthen, the duration of this recovery.”

Volume on the $1,300 gold put options traded on the Comex more than doubled Friday, after more than quadrupling a day earlier. Holdings in gold-backed ETFs fell by 3,132 ounces to 65.27 million ounces, data compiled by Bloomberg show.-Bloomberg