LONDON: Gold rebounded on Friday after worse-than-expected US retail sales figures, but trading was rangebound ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Washington.
Spot gold rose to $750.80 an ounce, reversing an earlier decline, before trading at $744.15/746.50 an ounce at 1527 GMT, from $734.30 an ounce in New York late on Thursday.
US gold futures for December delivery rallied $39.80 to $744.80 on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. New York gold futures rose as disappointing US retail sales data triggered heavy buy-stops by bolstering gold’s appeal as an alternative investment. Gold rebounded from earlier lows, which were a result of lower oil prices and a stronger dollar, but trading is rangebound ahead of the weekend summit of industrialised and emerging nations on the global financial crisis.
Platinum traded at $835.00/855.00 from 821.50 an ounce. Prices of the metal used to make autocatalysts have plunged about 64 percent since a record high of $2,290 hit in March. Johnson Matthey, the world’s top platinum refiner and fabricator, will release its keenly awaited interim review on Tuesday. “Johnson Matthey has the potential to influence the price of platinum and palladium in the sort term,” said Kendall. Palladium was at $213.00/221.00 from $210.00 on Thursday and silver at $9.55/9.63 from $9.38. reuters
