NY precious metals steady-to-firm early
NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuter) - COMEX and NYMEX precious metals futures were slightly higher in light trade early Friday, with gold steady-to-firm after Thursday's high volume high-volatility day, and platinum group metals up, despite the arrival in Japan of the first shipment of Russian platinum in six months.
``Most of Thursday's volatility in gold appeared to be driven by one or two funds or bullion bank proprietary trading, with little outside participation by the trade or smaller speculators, leaving the market a bit confused,'' one COMEX floor trader said.
``Certainly the Russian news after the market closed Thursday had little impact this morning.''
Late Thursday a Russian presidential decree permitted Russia's central bank and certain licensed commercial banks to export gold and silver bars from October 1.
But analysts said the move was only limited deregulation and Russia's central bank has already said it plans to increase its gold reserves by 90 tonnes a year over 1997 and 1998.
COMEX August gold was up $1.00 an ounce at $324.80 after the first hour of trade, with the August/December spread wider at $3.90 an ounce, after heavy switch activity Thursday, ahead of August gold's first notice day next Thursday.
In the bullion market, spot gold was quoted around $324.35/85, compared to the London Friday morning fix at $324.50 and the New York close Thursday around $324.50/00.
Gold prices have been consolidating in the past two weeks after hitting a 12 year low in early July around $314.00 an ounce, following confirmation of a sale of 167 tonnes of gold by the Australian central bank.
Meanwhile, COMEX September silver was up 3.5 cents at $4.315 an ounce, with the September/December spread wider at 6.5 cents.
NYMEX October platinum was up 30 cents at $412.50 an ounce, while NYMEX September palladium was up $4.00 at $189.50 an ounce, following sharp gains in Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) platinum group metals (PGMs) prices overnight.
``There was a large stop order in NYMEX palladium which was hit this morning driving the futures price higher on the open, but the spot market is a little softer around $198.00-202.00 for Zurich delivery, and lease rates are marginally lower too,'' one refining source said.
In overnight news, Japanese traders said the first Russian platinum shipments in six months arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo overnight. The first palladium shipments arrived last week. |
