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Gold futures down to $1,102/oz, silver down to $17.04/oz

Monday, March 15, 2010 by Metals Place
Gold futures down to $1,102/oz, silver down to $17.04/oz

Gold for April delivery finished down $6.50, or 0.6%, at $1,101.70 an ounce at the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, gold fell 2.4%.

The contract earlier had benefited from a weaker dollar and a jump in crude-oil prices after the International Energy Agency raised its global demand forecast and as U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in February.

On Thursday, gold rose 10 cents, playing off a weaker dollar that helped to offset fears China might continue tightening money flows to cool its economy.

On Friday, commodities first added to gains after a report that U.S. retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.3% last month. But a survey from Reuters and the University of Michigan that showed sentiment among consumers unexpectedly fell in March reversed the trend. See more on the weaker-than-forecast Reuters/University of Michigan survey results.

On the equities side, the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest exchange traded fund backed by gold, was down 0.5%.

Platinum and palladium have tended to benefit more from a better economic outlook, according to George Gero, metals analyst at RBC Capital. The metals, which have industrial applications in autos and oil, stand to benefit.

Palladium for April gained $2.15, or 0.5%, to $463.15 an ounce. Platinum for the same month still fell $4.30, or 0.3%, to $1,608.40 an ounce.

Copper for May delivery rose 0.3 cent to $3.38 a pound, but silver for April fell 9 cents to $17.04 an ounce.

Both copper and silver rose on Thursday after reports that Chile, the world's largest copper producer, was hit by an aftershock to last month's earthquake, with tremors this time measured at magnitude 7.2.

Still, "copper's price reaction to the aftershocks in Chile was rather subdued," Gero said.

Usually, he said, such events tend to lead to bigger reactions if many investors have short positions – bets that the metal's price will fall.

"The fact that the rally was small and short-lived indicates to us that the shorter-term players are not really positioned as short at the moment," Gero said.

www.metalsplace.com

 

 

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