Forexpros - Gold futures fell back from earlier record highs in Asian trade Thursday, as investors were chased away from slumping equities amid concerns of a slowdown in global economic growth..
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,781.05 a troy ounce during Asian mid-day trade, down 0.52%.
Earlier in the day, gold jumped to a record high of USD1,815.65, following sharp drops on all three major U.S. stock indexes.
Wall Street shares returned to the red Wednesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4.6%, the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 4.1%, and the S&P 500 retreated 4.4%.
Gold prices have reached record highs in six of the last seven sessions and have jumped 13% since the end of June..
Earlier in the week, the U.S. Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate at 0.25% until the middle of 2013, noting slower-than-expected economic growth and a deteriorating labor market.
Meanwhile, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch revised its 12-month gold price forecast to USD2,000 an ounce, citing sovereign debt concerns in the euro-zone and weakening global growth.
JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and HSBC earlier raised their price forecasts.
JP Morgan on Monday said it was forecasting spot gold to hit USD2,500 an ounce by the end of the year following the downgrade of U.S. credit by Standard & Poor's. The bank called its previous estimate of USD1,800 "too conservative".
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery fell 0.76% to trade at USD38.99 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery advanced 2.91% to trade at USD4.011 a pound.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
