BULLION Gold and silver prices fell along with the rest of the commodities on Wednesday as precious metals failed to resist the immense selling pressure that ensued following European debt issues. The European currency hit the lowest level in 14 months against the US dollar, which also snowballed the selling pressure that hit the market on Wednesday. However, the metals managed to recover during the later sessions of the day as safe haven buying rescued the metals from the midst of weakness. Gold prices had hit one-week low during the earlier session on Wednesday. Investment demand for yellow metal climbed yet again towards another record high. Gold denominated in Euro also climbed towards record highs on Wednesday, hitting 918.74 euros. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), said its holdings stood at a record of 1,166.002 tonnes as of May 5, up from 1,159.002 tonnes in the previous business day. U.S. gold futures for June delivery GCM0 added $2.0 an ounce to $1,176.9. The market is looking forward to US Non-Farm payrolls and unemployment rate scheduled for release later during the day for further direction. ENERGY Crude oil prices were also no different from rest of the markets as weakness infiltrated the counter, taking prices to seven week lows. The strength in the US dollar was primarily the reason for the weakness. Data from the Energy Information Agency showed that oil imports by USA, the largest consumer of crude oil, rose 2.8 percent to 9.95 million barrels and stocks of crude oil at Cushing Oklahoma, where Nymex WTI is stored, rose 4.9 percent to 36.2 million barrels, the highest since April 2004. Crude oil stocks also climbed more than expectations by 2.9 million barrels. The Greece debt issues and fears of contagion also contributed towards the weakness in prices of crude oil. Crude oil for June delivery fell $2.77 to $79.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since March 15. Natural gas prices, on the other hand, remained sedentary as bargain hunting, sky high stocks situation and mild weather kept the prices in a tight range. Natural gas for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 2.2 cents, or 0.55%, lower at $3.991 a million British thermal units after reaching a low of $3.925/MMBtu earlier in the day. The EIA data scheduled for release later today is expected to show a rise of 79 billion cubic feet. BASE METALS Base metals were hit the hardest as the metals were wiped off the board with prices falling to abysmal lows. A combination of rising US dollar, brewing debt worries in the Euro zone and fear that China will adopt a much more tighter monetary policy weighed on the base metals immensely on Wednesday. Investors hoped on to the bandwagon and sold the metals across the board. However, copper prices recovered most of its losses as the weakness in the counter was perceived as overdone. The presence of Chinese buying was also seen to have helped the metal recover its losses later on Wednesday.

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