COMEX gold prices fell on Friday, succumbing to profit-taking and a firm dollar in a shortened pre-holiday session, despite a reluctance by traders to lighten safe-haven positions ahead of a three-day weekend.
US financial markets will be closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day and London traders will also have a public holiday.
"If you were long, you had a good week," said a gold trader at a commercial bank, noting that gold experienced a "solid $20 rally" from the 2004 low in early May. "So it's a technical recovery, and markets are giving a little bit back with the dollar firming moderately."
August gold settled down $1.20 at $394.90 an ounce. Overnight, the contract hit a one-month high at $398 and there was buying on the way down to $393.50.
"There was some fund buying when New York opened, pushing it up to $396," said a dealer at a refining company.
He added of the holiday weekend: "It's three days where a lot of things could happen. If something bad happens, a terrorist attack or whatever else, you would rather be long than short."
There was no reaction to data showing US April personal income rose 0.6 percent while spending was up 0.3 percent. Both were in line with expectations. Gold also ignored a weaker-than-expected reading on May consumer sentiment.
The euro slipped to $1.2206/10 from $1.2263/67 at Thursday's close.
Gold has come back in vogue since it hit a seven-month low at $372.50 on May 10. The market expects a test of $400 soon and April's 15-year high at $433 remains a distant target.
Spot gold closed the week at $393.80/4.55, down from $395.40/6.15 late Thursday. Gold's afternoon fix in London was $393.25.
July silver settled off 8.5 cents at $6.11 an ounce, trading from a one-month high at $6.25 to $6.03. Spot silver slipped to $6.09/12 from the close at $6.18/21. Friday's fix was $6.165.
"Having convincingly held the $6 level, the metal now looks set to follow gold's example and work steadily higher, taking momentum from the dollar and also from the gains in the base metals," wrote analyst James Moore at TheBullionDesk.com.
July platinum fell $15.20 to $829.20 an ounce. Spot platinum last fetched $828.00/833.00.
June palladium fell $4.15 to $247.45 an ounce. Spot went out at $244.50/250.50.
"All of these markets seem to have had a decent run and I think you are just getting a little profit-taking," said the bank dealer. "They may have gotten ahead of themselves".
Comments
Comments are closed.