Gold Firms Up

Ivaylo
24 Nov, 2006
New York City

The weaker dollar helped to push gold prices higher. However, gold traded in a pretty narrow range on Thursday and had been consolidating. No dramatic moves are expected in the last weeks of the year, though. Still, gold may not be able to rise above $636, given the lack of trading from the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. Platinum gained after tumbling this week from record highs.

[R]5:00AM Gold steadies on Thursday as the dollar falls, platinum rises.[/R]
Gold traded in a tight $3-an-ounce range and was quoted at $630.20/631.20 an ounce, little changed from $629.90/630.90 in New York late on Wednesday. On the Shanghai Gold Exchange, platinum gained as much as 1.8% before easing to $1,163/1,178, against $1,145/1,165 an ounce in the U.S. market. Silver was at $13.10/13.17 an ounce, higher from $13.04/13.11 in New York, while palladium was unchanged at $322/327 an ounce.

Copper inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell 14% to 27,141 metric tons, the lowest since June 2, 2005. Aluminum stocks plunged 34% to 17,293 tons. Nickel rose to its highest in at least 19 years in London after a report showed stockpiles may decline, reducing supply of the metal used in stainless steel. Nickel for delivery in three months on the LME gained $1,600, or 5.2%, to $32,750 a ton. Zinc was among other metals that also advanced.

Oil fell for a third day in London on expectations that a milder-than-usual U.S. winter will crimp heating demand and increase crude inventories. Brent crude oil for January delivery fell as much as 45 cents, 0.8%, to $58.90 a barrel in electronic after-hours trading in London. In New York, oil was at $59.06 a barrel on the NYME.