Gold, Silver Climb, Platinum Dips

Ivaylo
28 Dec, 2006
New York City

Rumors of the possibility of U.S. interest rate reductions next year led to selling of the dollar and to a profit in the gold market. Gold is believed to remain within the wide $618-$630 range in the short term as volatility is likely to continue due to the thin holiday market conditions. Silver will remain volatile within a wide $12.29-$13 an ounce range for the short-term. While gold and silver advanced, platinum and palladium declined in light trading.

[R]5:00 AM Gold futures advanced on Wednesday on a fall of the dollar.[/R]
At settlement, February gold gained $3.40 to end at $630.30 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while March silver finished 20 cents higher at $12.925 an ounce. January platinum closed $7.30 lower at $1,115.70 an ounce, while March palladium ended 30 cents lower at $328.90 an ounce. The most-active March copper contract advanced 3.60 cents to settle at $2.9140 per pound.

The front-month February crude oil contract shed 76 cents, or 1.2%, to $60.34 a barrel. That was the lowest finish for the front-month contract since Nov. 27. January heating oil fell 1.45 cents to settle at $1.6088 a gallon, while January unleaded gasoline rose 1.53 cents to close at $1.5875 a gallon. Natural gas for January delivery closed Wednesday 27.5 cents lower at $5.838 a million British thermal units

On the New York Board of Trade, Arabica coffee surged on fund buying and March coffee finished 1.20 cents higher at $1.2890 a pound, while May coffee advanced 1.15 cents to settled at $1.3185 a pound. Raw sugar in foreign ports slipped partly due to technical sales. The March contract finished 0.07 cents lower at 11.79 cents a pound.