US gold futures retreated on fund selling early Wednesday, after spiking to a new 18-year peak, as the market became roiled by profit taking on the one hand and continued speculative interest on the other, traders and analysts said.
Most-active December delivery gold fell $3 to $476.80 an ounce by 10:47 am EDT on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing from $483.10 - the highest for futures since January 1988 - to $475.80.
Profit taking slammed prices at midmorning, after four straight days of gains earlier pushed gold higher, and one COMEX trader said it looked like one large fund was either liquidating long positions or conducting fresh short selling.
If December fell through Monday's low at $475.20, he believed it could target next support at $473.80, and then aim for chart levels at $472 and $468. He saw resistance lurking at $480.50 and $484.50 an ounce.
"There is a higher level of economic uncertainty out there superimposed on some traditional seasonal strength at this time of the year, so I'm not altogether surprised by the current activity," said Geoff Stanley, precious metals and minerals analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns in New York.
Bullion spiked to a new 18-year high Wednesday. Spot gold has risen about 16 percent from a year ago.
Spot gold rose as high as $480.25 a troy ounce, but later had retreated to $473.50/474.30, against $476.60/7.40 at Tuesday's New York close. Wednesday's London afternoon fix was down at $475.10 an ounce.
Gold was firm in other currencies, scaling a new record high in euro terms at 401.41 euros per ounce and a 12-year high in sterling at 275.82 British pounds per ounce.
Estimated volume was 18,000 contracts by 10 am.
Other metals also have gotten a boost from the rising tide of investment in gold, as well as a strong copper market.
On the board at NYMEX, January platinum was up 50 cents to $948 an ounce, after futures earlier broke above a nine-month high to hit their highest since April 2004. Spot platinum traded at $942/945 - a 25-year peak.
December palladium rose $1.30 to $214 an ounce, near a seven-month high touched earlier at $215. Spot was stable at $208/212.
COMEX December silver was flat at $7.875 an ounce, trading from $7.80 to $7.925. The market stands at a 10-month high and traders felt it could target the $8 level next.
Spot silver changed hands at $7.81/84 an ounce, unchanged from Tuesday's close. The fix was at $7.845.
Comments
Comments are closed.