Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Three Day Tumble For Gold Futures
MarketWatch has the latest on precious metals. "Gold futures closed at a more than one-week low Tuesday, marking a three-session loss of almost $16 an ounce as traders reacted to expectations that a compromise over Iran's nuclear program could be worked out. Gold for April delivery fell as far as $549.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, then recovered slightly to finish at $554.50 an ounce, down $2.30 at its lowest close since Feb. 23."
"The contract has tallied a loss of $15.90 an ounce from weakness on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Even so, 'off-stage acceptance of the $500-plus levels has been building, so the falls will stop where physical demand wants it to,' said Jullian Phillips."
"Silver was the lone gainer in the precious-metals futures market Tuesday. May silver climbed 8.2 cents to close at $10.107 an ounce following a decline of 21 cents sustained in the previous session. On Friday, it climbed as high as $10.31, a level not seen in about 22 years, as traders bet that the silver-based exchange-traded fund in registration from Barclays Global Investors may soon begin trading."
"Other metals futures lost ground Tuesday. The June palladium contract shed $5.65 to close at $292.75 an ounce, while April platinum lost $2.50 to end at $1,040.90 an ounce and May copper fell by 1.95 cents to finish at $2.177 a pound."
"Also lower were indexes that track stocks in the metals-mining sector, mirroring the continuing weakness in gold. The Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI) closed down 3.2% at 296.8 points. A close in the HUI below the support level of 295 could create another 10% fall, Peter Spina warned."
"Among the index components, shares of Hecla Mining (HL) were the biggest losers, down 8.3% to close at $5. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) dropped 7% to finish the session at $25.32."
"The contract has tallied a loss of $15.90 an ounce from weakness on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Even so, 'off-stage acceptance of the $500-plus levels has been building, so the falls will stop where physical demand wants it to,' said Jullian Phillips."
"Silver was the lone gainer in the precious-metals futures market Tuesday. May silver climbed 8.2 cents to close at $10.107 an ounce following a decline of 21 cents sustained in the previous session. On Friday, it climbed as high as $10.31, a level not seen in about 22 years, as traders bet that the silver-based exchange-traded fund in registration from Barclays Global Investors may soon begin trading."
"Other metals futures lost ground Tuesday. The June palladium contract shed $5.65 to close at $292.75 an ounce, while April platinum lost $2.50 to end at $1,040.90 an ounce and May copper fell by 1.95 cents to finish at $2.177 a pound."
"Also lower were indexes that track stocks in the metals-mining sector, mirroring the continuing weakness in gold. The Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI) closed down 3.2% at 296.8 points. A close in the HUI below the support level of 295 could create another 10% fall, Peter Spina warned."
"Among the index components, shares of Hecla Mining (HL) were the biggest losers, down 8.3% to close at $5. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) dropped 7% to finish the session at $25.32."
# posted by Ben Jones @ 1:49 PM 
