Gold Swings as Investors Weigh U.S. Growth Against Europe Crisis

Gold swung between gains and losses as investors weighed data showing an improving U.S. economy against signs that Europe’s debt crisis is continuing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached an all-time high last week and the dollar traded near a seven-month high against six counterparts on signs that the U.S. economy is strengthening.Fitch Ratings cut Italy’s credit rating by one level on March 8. Gold exchange-traded holdings fell for a fourth straight week.

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“The positive data out of the U.S. is very negative for gold, and at the same time the Fitch downgrading of Italy is providing some support,” Fain Shaffer, the president of Infinity Trading Corp. in Medford, Oregon, said in a telephone interview. “Gold has been getting slaughtered because of equities this year.”

Gold futures for April delivery climbed 0.1 percent to $1,579.10 an ounce at 10:50 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The metal gained as much as 0.4 percent and fell as much as 0.2 percent today. Last week, prices rose 0.3 percent, the first advance in five.

Trading volume was 46 percent below the average in the past 100 days for this time of day.

Gold is down 5.8 percent this year, after 12 straight annual gains, on mounting confidence that economies are recovering. U.S. payrolls rose and the jobless rate declined in February, the Labor Department said March 8. Holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds fell to 2,484.1 metric tons on March 8, the lowest since September, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Silver futures for May delivery slid 0.4 percent to $28.84 an ounce on the Comex.