Gold and silver prices dropped in New York on speculation that investment demand will decline as more signs emerge that the global recession may have touched bottom. Policy makers see “encouraging” signs of a recovery, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said after a meeting of global central bankers today. U.S. consumer sentiment rose by the most in more than two years in April, a gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity began to improve and German factory orders gained for the first time in seven months in March. “The safe-haven play is becoming less relevant at the moment, largely because we are beginning to see more positive economic signals,” said David Wilson, an analyst at Societe Generale in London. Gold futures for June delivery slipped $2.20, or 0.2 percent, to $912.70 an ounce at 9:09 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. Gold climbed 3 percent last week. Silver futures for July delivery fell 10.5 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $13.85 an ounce in New York. The most-active contract jumped 12 percent last week, the biggest weekly gain since Sept. 19. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, reached a record of almost 1,128 metric tons last month and has decreased 2.1 percent since then.

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