Gold goes cold turkey as Chinese stop buying

London - Gold is headed for its longest streak of losses since October as buying from China comes to a sudden stop ahead of the country’s traditional week-long holiday to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Prices have dropped 2.7% in the past four days, cutting the year’s gains in half. China, the biggest consumer of gold, increased purchases in the run-up to the start of the Year of the Rooster this week, when bars or jewelry made from the metal are traditionally given as gifts.

“We expect full year Chinese demand to still fall short of levels seen in 2015,” Nell Agate, a Citigroup metals analyst, said by e-mail from London. “It’s possible that Chinese jewelry sales are likely to slow as the Chinese break for new year festivities.”

Spot metal touched the lowest price in more than two weeks on Friday. A firming dollar and rising equity indexes near record highs also weighed on demand for the haven.

Gold for immediate delivery fell 0.3% to $1 185.49 an ounce by 13:35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 20 000 for the first time this week and the MSCI All-Country World Index is near a record.

Palladium also headed for its biggest weekly drop in more than a year.

In other precious metals:

Silver for immediate delivery slipped 0.2% to $16.7793 an ounce, heading for the first weekly decline in five. Palladium is down 7.6% this week at $728.72 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.2% on Friday to $975.80 an ounce.