IMF(International Monetary Fund) to sell another 191 tons of gold

  The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that it plans to sell 191.3 metric tons of gold on the open market, pushing gold futures and mining shares lower.

The announcement comes after the IMF already sold 212 tons of gold to central banks.

The sales are part of a program to sell a total of 403.3 tons that was approved by the IMF's executive board last September. The total sale will reduce the fund's gold holdings by about one-eighth.

"The top priority in conducting the gold sales is to avoid disruption to the gold market," said IMF Finance Department Director Andrew Tweedie in a statement.

"Prior to any sales on the gold market, sales were first made exclusively to interested central banks, thus shifting gold within the official sector. Now the IMF will begin sales of the remaining gold on the market. This will be done in a phased way," Tweedie said.

The announcement sent gold futures to an intraday low of $1,098.10 an ounce.

Gold for April delivery was last down $14 to $1,106.10 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.