Gold prices slightly increase; copper flat Gold futures marched higher Thursday after being yanked down by more than 1% the previous day on reinforced worries about financial-stimulus tapering by the Federal Reserve. Gold for August delivery bounced back $3, or 0.2%, to $1,322.50 an ounce in electronic exchange. December gold, also among the most-active contracts, acquired $2.70, or 0.2%, to $1,322.80 an ounce in electronic transactions. Meanwhile, September copper futures remained at $3.18 a pound. Copper prices on Wednesday fell 0.6% in the wake of a lower-than-anticipated reading for July manufacturing activity in China, though they briefly turned higher during the session. After that three-month copper prices on the London Metal Exchange shook off losses Wednesday and finished higher, Standard Bank commodity strategist Leon Westgate wrote that the action was “perhaps an indication of how short the copper market is that the weak economic data overnight from China failed to trigger a sharper selloff.” After the manufacturing data, China’s cabinet late Wednesday said it would cut taxes for small businesses, seek to aid some exporters and increase state investment in railways. “For the moment, however, it looks like copper is in a bit of no-man’s land, with participants looking for a more sustained short-covering rally running into fresh selling activity from participants looking at what appears to be a deteriorating economic picture from China,” Westgate said. The August and December gold contracts on Wednesday had each declined by 1.1% on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The tumbles came as stronger-than-expected figures on July U.S. manufacturing activity and June new U.S. home sales highlighted the view that the Fed will reduce the flow of financial stimulus to the economy if it continues to progress in line with its projections. Financial stimulus by the Fed and other central banks has been credited for helping drive gold prices higher in recent years. Wednesday’s losses for gold, tracking the most-active contracts, marked the biggest one-day percentage and dollar pulls back since July 5, according to FactSet data. The metals market will have fresh data to assess on Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect new orders for U.S. durable goods to rise 2.3% in June, led by demand in aircraft, and weekly claims for U.S. unemployment benefits to rise back up to 342,000. In other moves Thursday, September silver jumped 9 cents, or 0.5%, to $20.11 an ounce, while October platinum retreated $9.80, or 0.7%, to $1,445.40 an ounce. September palladium relinquished 50 cents, or 0.1%, to exchanged at $744.80 an ounce.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:29:34 +0000
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