Gold futures ended lower on Friday, falling below $950 an ounce as the dollar rose and oil tumbled amid lacklustre US consumer confidence data, which dampened gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation. December gold settled down $7.80 at $948.70 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Ranging from $943.70 to $961.40.
GOLD: December contract turned sharply lower, tracking the equities market after a closely watched report showed US consumer confidence posted a bigger-than-expected drop in early August, as Americans fretted about their finances. The Reuters-University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary reading of the index of confidence for August fell to 63.2 from 66.0 in July.
Old recently has followed movements in the stock market, as economic optimism stokes investment interest across asset classes. Wall Street, however, fell 1.5 percent on Friday as investors took profits. A $3 drop in crude oil prices and a stronger dollar against the euro also weighed on gold - traders.
Inflation expectations are muted at this point, and gold could correct steeper than expected - Tom Hartmann, metals broker at California-based Altavest. COMEX estimated final volume at 74,407 lots. Gold-oil ratio at 13.98, higher than 13.54 from the previous session. Spot gold at $945.25 at 2:19 pm EDT (1819 GMT), compared with $953.50 in late New York Thursday business.
SILVER: September silver finished down 26.5 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $14.722 an ounce, following the decline in copper and other industrial metals. Ranging from $14.585 to $15.185 an ounce - a two-month high reached earlier in the session. COMEX estimated final volume at 30,602 lots. Spot silver was at $14.65 an ounce versus $15 an ounce in Thursday's late quote.
PLATINUM: October platinum ended down $11 at $1,261.70 an ounce on broad-based commodities weakness. Spot platinum at $1,257 versus $1,265.
PALLADIUM: September palladium closed down 90 cents at $277.25 an ounce, tracking platinum's losses. Spot palladium at $273, against its previous finish of $274.
Comments
Comments are closed.