US gold futures stood near unchanged after rising off of fresh nine-day lows early on Thursday, as the market tracked volatile currency moves following soft first-quarter US economic growth data. Silver and platinum prices stumbled to similar lows as gold's while palladium also retreated in early trading. By 9:51 am EDT, June delivery gold tiptoed down 10 cents to $434 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing within a range of $435.30 to $432.20, which marked its cheapest since April 19.
With the euro/dollar gyrating in a narrow band near $1.29 after the gross domestic product data, gold was wedged in a recent $430 to $440 trading band. Dealers said that, for now, the market should mirror currency moves, although gold's longer-term outlook appeared upbeat.
Spot gold fetched $432.80/3.50 an ounce, a touch above Wednesday's close in New York at $432.50/3.00. Thursday's morning fix in London was at $432.75.
On the eve of first notice day for metals delivery, COMEX silver trading was dominated by speculative players rolling May futures positions into next active July silver.
May silver fell 9.5 cents to $7.04 an ounce while July was off 8.1 cents at $7.10. Spot hit $7.04/07 from $7.12/14 previously. The fix was at $7.095.
NYMEX July platinum lost $5.90 to stand at $865 an ounce - also a low since April 19. Spot platinum was quoted at $862/866.
June palladium lost $4.00 to $199 an ounce. Spot palladium fetched $197/201.