Gold, dollar, S&P 500 send mixed signals on risk aversion

Gold, the dollar and U.S. stocks paint “a mixed picture” of investors’ willingness to take risks, in Citigroup Inc.’s view. Quantitative analysts at Citi contrasted this year’s performance of gold futures in New York trading with the Dollar Index and the S&P 500 Index in a report Wednesday. While the precious metal gained 12% for the year through Wednesday, the currency gauge fell 5.5% from a high in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 rallied 40% from this year’s low, also set in March. “Risk aversion is not as high as recent moves in gold would suggest,” Citi wrote.