US gold futures ended lower Friday on pre-weekend profit-taking after the recent sharp rally, even as investment buying continued to rise in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds amid financial uncertainties.
GOLD: Gold for April delivery settled down $7.00 at $942.20 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Ranged $933.00 to $946.90 near $954, which marked the loftiest since July 23. Supported by massive investment inflows, growing lack of confidence in the US government's effort to deal with the financial crisis, and worries over future inflation - Tom Pawlicki, precious metals and energy analyst at MF Global. Profit-taking and position squaring seen as the market took a breather after a sharp gold rally - traders.
Sharp investment inflows provided underlying support as the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund posted its biggest weekly gain in the ETF's history. SPDR Gold Trust, popularly known as GLD, said the gold bullion it owned rose by more than 100 tonnes to 970.57 tonnes as of February 12. COMEX estimated midday volume at 64,956 lots, and options turnover at 4,499 contracts. Gold futures underperformed crude oil contracts. Gold-oil ratio down to 25.1 from 27.9 in the previous session. Spot gold was at $937.80 an ounce at 2:02 pm EST (1902 GMT), down 0.8 percent from the last trade on Thursday.
SILVER: March ended up 11.5 cents at $13.625 an ounce as gold's weakness triggered profit-taking. Ranged $13.220 to $13.480. COMEX estimated midday volume at 10,397 lots. Spot silver was at $13.60 an ounce, up 1 percent from its previous close.
PLATINUM: NYMEX April platinum finished down $16.90, or 1.6 percent, to $1,061.00 an ounce on profit-taking following a recent rally on hopes that autocatalyst demand recovery due to a US economy stimulus plan. Spot platinum quoted at $1,059 an ounce, down 1.3 percent from its last finish.
PALLADIUM: NYMEX March palladium closed essentially unchanged at $216.50 an ounce, in tandem with platinum's fall. Spot palladium was at $214 an ounce, up 0.2 percent from its previous close on Thursday.