Gold trades near 6-week low

By Nicholas Larkin, Bloomberg

Gold traded near a six-week low in New York as investors weighed the case for the Federal Reserve to continue reducing stimulus against speculation the first monthly decline this year will increase physical demand.

Gold slipped 1.9 percent this month after U.S economic data including durable goods orders beat estimates, while Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said that the central bank’s debt-buying program may end this year with interest rates starting to rise in 2015. U.S. figures due tomorrow may show manufacturing strengthened this month.