Daily Gold Update

Source: Reuters

New York— Gold futures in New York ended weaker Wednesday as some short-term traders trimmed positions amid a firmer dollar, but bullish sentiment on commodities and a lack of fund selling still supported prices.

The market seemed to refocus on the dollar in the last two days as large investment funds have been fairly quiet in gold since the start of the week, dealers said.

"Currency watching and speculation over US and European interest rates have been the focus of the precious metals over the course of the day…," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com. "The firmer dollar has put a little pressure on gold."

August delivery gold fell 80 cents to end at $439.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, after trading a range of $441.10 to $438.

The euro softened versus the U.S. currency as European rate cut speculation came back into focus after a dovish report from the Bank of England, a non-euro-zone member.

Minutes released from the bank's last policy meeting indicated some sentiment for a rate cut.

The euro last was at $1.2114, about a cent away from last week's nine-month low.

Gold prices are still up around $20 this month, however, and the gains were especially striking as the market at times has decoupled from its normal inverse link to the dollar, with investors parking more money in commodities in general.

"For now, (spot) gold seems comfortable between $435-442 but is still susceptible to further bouts of long liquidation, particularly if speculative players begin to offload their recently built longs," said Moore.

COMEX August futures hit a three-month high above $443 on Monday before easing back, but New York prices also were well supported above the mid-$430s area, dealers said.

Final estimated turnover was a quiet 37,000 lots, against Tuesday's busier volume of 58,031.

Open interest in COMEX gold futures rose again, climbing 6,963 lots to 289,771 lots before Wednesday's session.

Spot last was quoted at $437.80/8.50, off from the prior late New York quote at $438.50/9.25. Wednesday's London afternoon fix was at $437.00.

July silver shed 3.4 cents to $7.258 an ounce, with July/September rollover not very active. The range ran from $7.32 to $7.195. Spot silver last was at $7.22/25 an ounce, vs. $7.25/28 on Tuesday. It fixed at $7.24.

At NYMEX, July platinum rose $8 to $892.30 an ounce. Spot platinum firmed to $885/890.

September palladium climbed $1.35 to $190.40 an ounce. Spot stuck near $187/191.