US gold futures edged up Friday morning but still held off from this week's 16-year peak, with a weak dollar and economic data dictating direction as traders squared positions at week's end, dealers said. Platinum popped above a prior resistance level to touch a 6-1/2-week high on fund and commission-house buying, while silver also held firm.
December gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division climbed $1.20 to $436.60 an ounce by 10:32 EST (1532 GMT), zigzagging in a range from $435 to $438.
"We're looking at a whole bunch of economic data so the dollar is a little choppy, and we're also at a new high level (in gold) which brings a change of flows as people look to take profits and others don't," said a head trader at a large bank.
On Wednesday, COMEX December gold peaked at $438.30 to mark the loftiest for an active futures contract since July 1988.
Spot gold changed hands at $435.55/6.30 versus $434.35/5.10 at the New York close Thursday and Wednesday's 16-year high at $437.25. The London morning fix was $436.90.
In platinum, NYMEX January rose $14.40 to $869 an ounce, its highest since September 29. Spot platinum went up to $864.00/869.00.
Thinly traded December palladium rose 85 cents to $217 an ounce. Spot palladium hit $213.00/218.00. COMEX December silver gained 0.3 cent to $7.48 an ounce, within a $7.545 to $7.435 range. Spot was at $7.44/47 versus the last close at $7.43/46. The fix in London was $7.4850.
Comments
Comments are closed.