DJ PRECIOUS METALS: NY Gold Seen Down $3, Silver Down 5 Cents
By Matt Whittaker
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--February gold futures are expected to open floor
trading in New York around $3 an ounce lower Thursday, based on electronic
activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange. March silver is expected to be down about 5 cents an
ounce.
In overnight activity, spot gold edged lower in narrow range-trading as the
market awaited interest rate decisions by the European Central Bank and the
Bank of England.
The Bank of England slashed the U.K. Bank rate Thursday by 100 basis points
to 2.0% in a dramatic attempt to buoy up the ailing U.K. economy. The European
Central Bank Thursday announced an unprecedented 75-basis-point cut to its main
monetary policy rate, bringing it down to 2.5%.
Spot gold dropped on the ECB's bigger-than-expected interest rate cut. At
7:56 a.m. EST, spot gold was trading down $8.13 to $766.02.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is down to $1.2632 from $1.2716 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 5.7
points. January crude is down 79 cents.
U.S. economic reports on Thursday include:
-- Nov. 29 jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), with weekly jobless
claims expected up 11,000 at 540,000;
-- October factory orders at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), with total orders
expected down 5.4%.
Comex gold warehouse stocks were up 9,522 ounces at 8,519,868 ounces
Wednesday, while silver stocks were up 78,292 ounces at 129,081,876 ounces.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959;
matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
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