Gold & silver comments from Bridge a few minutes ago:
NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - COMEX gold was lower early Monday, with
the market on alert for new developments in the war in Afghanistan and torn
between worries about recession and jumpiness about the use of deadly germs
against Americans.
At 0940 EDT, December gold <0#GC:> was down $2.30 at $283.40 an ounce,
trading from a high of $286.80 to $282.60.
The move pared Friday's knee-jerk $3.10 rally on the news of an anthrax
diagnosis in New York, while fears about the use of the mail to deliver
biological agents spread while investigators looked into letter scares in
New York, Florida and Nevada.
"It's just a lack of faith in gold. Everyone is just selling it. The
only thing that's going to give us a rally up is, unfortunately, a
disaster," said Frank Bulfamante of Custom Floor Brokers. "What we saw on
Friday that gave us a little spike up was just probably an opportunity to
sell it."
Spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $281.40/2.40, down from $284.20/5.20 at
the close and London's early fix at $283.75.
Trade selling was the main influence, though dealers said the strength
of the dollar against the euro <EUR=> was a negative, while rallies in the
Australian dollar <AUD=>and South African rand might have been a supportive
influence.
The United States took its military campaign in Afghanistan into a
second week on Monday, raining down bombs and missiles as part of efforts
to force the ruling Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, who the United
States holds responsible for the Sept 11 attacks on New York and
Washington.
The main news for gold was Friday's CFTC Commitments of Traders report
which showed a small drop in the net noncommercial long position to 32,778
contracts as of last Tuesday from 35,255 the week before. Dealers said the
position has probably gotten smaller since Tuesday.
"There was some liquidation and that happened Thursday. We saw a lot of
that in the push back down toward $280 initially," said one. "The market
was incredibly long. If you look at the forwards you could borrow for next
to nothing. We still haven't gotten any follow through from Osama. We don't
know who's doing this anthrax stuff."
December silver <0#SI:> fell 6.5 cents to $4.405 an ounce, in a range
of $4.455 to $4.37. Spot silver <XAG=> was at $4.37/41, down from the
$4.44/47 close. It fixed at $4.42. |
