Gold rebound halted as fund outflows continue: expert

DUBAI (Xinhua) - The sharp rebound in the yellow metal from two weeks ago was not sustainable due to the ongoing capital shifts into equities, an expert on precious metal said Saturday.

The price of gold lost 2.5 percent during the last week and trades now at around $1,488 per ounce.

"Gold prices tried and failed last week again to break the initial resistance level at $1,485 per ounce," Gerhard Schubert, head of precious metals at universal bank Emirates NBD in Dubai, said in his weekly comment on global precious metals markets.

Since January 2013, the ounce of gold has lost 14.8 percent in value.

Schubert said the holdings of gold in exchange traded funds ( ETF) are now reportedly at levels last seen in early 2008 before the global financial crisis.

Capital will continue to flow out of commodities into stock markets, stoked by low interest rates and monetary easing by central banks, he said.

Stock market indices in Germany and the United States hit all- time high last Friday with the German DAX closing at 8,278.59 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York reaching 15,118.49 points.

Regarding the mid-term outlook, Schubert said "We might see a little bit more liquidation out of ETF, but I strongly doubt that the pace seen, will continue unabated."

He added that physical markets have done magically well in recent weeks with people from the industry commenting on the amounts of gold bought in regional markets.

At the same time, bargain buying in the emerging markets in the East geared up.

Chinese gold import numbers reached record highs, with March imports from Hong Kong reaching 224 tons. "This means that the imports for the first quarter of 2013 have reached 378 tones," Schubert said, adding that India has also seen record import levels.