LONDON: Gold pared losses on Friday after sliding five percent in early trade, as the dollar retreated from highs against the euro and investors took advantage of lower prices to buy into the metal.
Spot gold fell to $684.90 an ounce, a new 13-month low, before recovering to trade at $702.00/704.00 at 1335 GMT. It was quoted at $720.00 in New York late on Thursday.
US gold futures for December delivery were down 0.8 percent or $5.70 at $709.00 on the COMEX division of the New York Stock Exchange, having earlier touched a low of $681. Among other precious metals, silver tracked gold’s recovery after tumbling 10 percent to a session low of $8.74, its weakest level since January 2006. It was later trading at $8.83/8.93 against $9.66.
Platinum meanwhile slumped to a near five-year low of $752 an ounce, as the firmer dollar added to existing pressure on the metal from a fall in demand linked to expectations for slowing economic growth. Platinum was quoted at $759/779, down from $802.50, while palladium was at $163.50/173.50, against $165.50.
Copper hits lowest point since September 2005: Copper fell almost 10 percent to a three-year low on Friday, following equity markets lower as the market priced in the threat of a global recession and the dollar strengthened.
Copper for three month delivery on the London Metal Exchange fell to a low of $3,665 a tonne from $4,040 at the close on Thursday. It was untraded in official rings on Friday but bid at $3,720.
Aluminium slipped to $1,927, its lowest since October 2005 and was last at $1,930 from $2,006. The metal, used in transport and packaging, has come under pressure in recent weeks on news of deteriorating car sales data from auto makers.
The metal rose 2,875 tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes in London Metal Exchange warehouses, while copper added 2,725 tonnes to 211,975. Nickel fell more than five percent to $8,850 from $9,350 at the close on Thursday, before tracking back to $9,000 and zinc was at $1,095 from $1,200. Tin fell more than 14 percent to $8,850 — its lowest since January 2007 — but tracked back to $11,200 from $12,000 on Thursday.
Lead fell more than 10 percent to $1,145 from $1,275 and was last at $1,160. reuters
