Gold, Silver, Crude Oil Close Lower, But Platinum, Palladium See Gains
U.S. gold futures held onto losses triggered by falling oil prices and unloading of weak long positions into Wednesday’s close, traders said.
Rising U.S. interest rates helped fuel gold-selling as some participants worry that tighter liquidity could cause investors to unload precious metals holdings.
Most-active gold futures for August on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled $4.70 lower at $660.00 an ounce, pulling off an early high at $665.40. On Tuesday, August gold extended its rally up to a 10-day high at $665.80, which nearly matched the June 8 high of $665.90.
Crude oil prices fell 2% on Wednesday, as U.S. gasoline stocks rose and crude inventories hit a nine-year high, easing supply concerns in the world’s top consumer.
Rising interest rates were also a concern among gold traders as U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on Wednesday.
Weakness in European government bonds spilled into the U.S. debt market after inflationary concerns were voiced by European central bankers.
A lack of physical demand for the yellow metal at the 10-day highs reached on Tuesday and nearly matched on Wednesday also took the wind out of gold’s five-day rally.
August gold encountered tough technical resistance around $665, making the metal vulnerable to more selling on Thursday.
With gold futures tracing out a consolidative pattern, between $650 and $665 an ounce, however, longer-term traders showed little concern over the losses.
Wednesday’s selling sent the August contract down to $659.60, still higher than Tuesday’s low at $657.10.
Comex estimated final gold volume at a light 34,545 lots, with options trade pegged at 5,576 lots. Tuesday’s official futures turnover came to 66,210 lots.
Spot gold eased to $650.50/7.0 an ounce by late Monday from $660.70/2.20 in Tuesday’s trade. It set a high at $661.35 nearly matching a 10-day high of $661.40 set Tuesday.
London banks set the afternoon gold fix at $657.40.
Comex July silver finished 7.50 cents lower at $13.25 an ounce in a $13.22 to $13.415 range.
Spot silver fell to $13.21/3.25 an ounce in late trade, down from $13.31/35 on Tuesday. London silver was fixed at $13.34 an ounce.
NYMEX July platinum closed up $2.30 at $1,300.80 an ounce. Spot platinum edged up to $1,290/1,294.
September palladium added $3.40 to end at $379.90 an ounce. Spot palladium rose to $373.0/377.0.