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METALS STOCKS
Metals succumb to fresh selling
Platinum lower in wake of lukewarm forecast; silver gains
By Mike Maynard, MarketWatch
Last Update: 11:47 AM ET May 16, 2005
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The pullback in metals prices continued Monday, with silver alone bucking the bearish trend to start.
Analysts were negative on prospects for the sector staging an effective turnaround.
"The complex is approaching oversold levels, but given the prevailing negative mood, rallies will probably be seen as selling opportunities," said Man Financial in a research note.
Gold trended lower, as the June contract slipped $1.60 by late morning to $419.10 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The precious metal got no lift from a modestly weaker U.S. dollar, which played off Treasury Department data showing a slowdown in foreign capital inflows for March. See Currencies.
That the dollar didn't really sell off on the inflows data "will not bode well for gold," said James Moore of TheBullionDesk.com. See full inflows story.
Moore sees a bleak short-term outlook for gold, pegging support at $418 and then $415 an ounce. If these are breached, gold will likely retest the year's low at the $410 level, he said.
Metals futures had retreated across the board on Friday, paced by plunging copper.
July copper gave more ground to start the week, skidding 1.05 cents to $1.342 a pound. |
