Gold steadied in Europe on Wednesday, with weakness in the dollar and strength in oil lifting bullion after investors took profits early in the session. Gold traded at $940.60/941.70 an ounce at 1330 GMT against $938.40/939.40 late in New York. It rallied to a high of $945.80 an ounce on Tuesday, its strongest since April 18.
The precious metal slipped this morning as the dollar recovered from two-month lows against the euro, fuelling profit-taking after Tuesday's 10-week high. The precious metal has bounced more than 7 percent since falling to a one-week low at $873.50 an ounce last week, mainly driven by rising oil prices. "Gold has come off its lows, but it us not really a big move given where the euro is," said Mitsubishi analyst Tom Kendall.
Traders were turning their attention to an interest rate decision by the European Central Bank on Thursday, and to ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet's outlook for inflation after the meeting, for clues as to the future direction of the euro. Among other precious metals, silver climbed to $18.23/18.29 an ounce from $18.08/18.13 late in New York on Tuesday, when it rallied as high as $18.19, its loftiest level since May 27.
Prices are taking support from strike action in Peru, the world's biggest silver miner. "The mining strike in Peru continues to impact silver production and Buenaventura has confirmed that all production at its Uchucchacua mine has been brought to a halt," said Barclays Capital in a note. Spot platinum was steady at $2,067.50/2,087.50 an ounce from $2,069.00/2,089.00 late in New York. Spot palladium was little changed at $462.50/470.50 an ounce from $464.00/472.00 an ounce.
Comments
Comments are closed.