Gold, silver and platinum and palladium prices all ended
marginally lower in New York Friday on light volumes after after
good gains in the past two days. "Gold and silver still both look
OK, with silver closing above $5.00 again, but I wouldn't want to
be too bullish on either metal," said Scott Meyers, an analyst
with Pioneer Futures in New York.
In the past two months gold prices have recovered from a 19 year
low around $270.75 an ounce. Demand for gold in Japan triggered by
last month's fall in the dollar/yen rate was surprisingly strong,
traders said Friday.
Sales of gold investment products in Japan in October were about
10 to 15 tonnes compared with 7 to 8 tonnes in September,
according to the World Gold Council. Elsewhere, news that
Mongolia's central bank has bought more than seven tonnes of gold
so far in 1998 was encouraging for gold, especially after Canada's
central bank said it had sold 68,000 ounces of gold, one tradersaid.
"Funds are still short in platinum and the same investment bank
that has been buying gold this week is selling platinum, so a
further test of the downside looks likely," said Ralph D'Esposito,
a COMEX floor trader with RJ Futures. Platinum prices have been
recovering this week from their lowest levels in seven years seen
last week. Platinum prices had been pressured by ample supplies
from South Africa and Russia. |
