Gold trades lower on demand concerns


SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures fell on Tuesday, moving in step with weakness in global stock markets and softer commodity prices, as concerns about a slowdown in China flared up.
Gold for April delivery GCJ2 -1.09%  fell $20.30, or 1.2%, to end at $1,647 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Traders became nervous that top commodities consumer China may be due for a slowdown after comments from the president of BHP Billiton Ltd.’sBHP -3.38%   UK:BLT -4.05% iron-ore division.
BHP’s Ian Ashby told reporters in Perth on Tuesday that China’s iron-ore demand is easing and that demand growth will slow to single digits. The news sent mining stocks lower in Asia and Europe and weighed on commodity prices across the board. Read more on BHP executive's comments
“Anything indicating that China is slowing is going to hit risk assets in general,” said Matt Zeman, a strategist at Kingsview Financial in Chicago. For the better part of last year, gold behaved more like a regular commodity, an asset class considered riskier, than as a safe-haven instrument, he added.

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