GOLD: Gold could not sustain at level of $1,180 an ounce in Europe, knocked down by a dearth of haven buying as confidence in the equities improved, though there was some physical demand seen which limited the losses.
1.Spot gold was bid at $1,176.80 an ounce at 1230 GMT, against $1,181.50 late in New York on Friday.
2. US gold futures for August delivery fell $4.00 to $1,179.90.
3.The world's largest bullion exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, saw its biggest outflow in a year, with holdings down more than 38 tonnes in July to 1,282.3 tonnes.
4. Better appetite for risk boosted other markets.
5. Strong session in Asia, where stocks rose today on strong corporate earnings and shrugged off news that Chinese manufacturing shrank in July amid investor hopes that the world's fastest growing major economy will expand strongly.
6. The dollar index hit a three-month low on Monday, hurt by worries that the US economy's recovery is losing steam.
7. Euro firmed and the high-yielding Australian dollar reached a three-month high.
8. Lower prices encouraged higher gold demand from key bullion-consuming centres China, India and the Middle East.
9. Gold buying in India rose today afternoon as traders took advantage of the strong rupee, which made the dollar-quoted asset cheaper, to complete deals, traders said.
10. Gold futures also slipped on MCX with a slight margin, at 06:00 PM August contract were down by 0.46% at Rs 17,692 per 10 gms.
11. According to Religare Commodities, the movement in gold will be sideways, the "entry range" is 17,900-17,920 in MCX Oct gold, targeting 18,100, maintaining a stop loss at 17,830, said Religare Commodities's.
PLATINUM & PALLADIUM: Industrial precious metals outperformed gold as risk appetite improved. Platinum was at $1,579.50 an ounce against $1,566.55, while palladium was at $496.35 against $491. Palladium reached a fresh 10-week high at $498 an ounce in earlier trade. Both metals saw significant interest on the New York futures market last week, according to the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission's Commitment of Traders report.
Even during platinum's perceived bullishness earlier this year, the metal did not experience such a swelling in net long holdings in one single week, analysts said. Palladium followed a similar path, with the Nymex book adding 118,700 ounces or 8.8 percent, they added. At 1235 GMT Spot Platinum traded at $1,588 an ounce, up by $18.00, and Palladium at $498, up by $2.00.
COPPER: Copper touched its 3-month high, as investors grew more optimistic about the economic outlook, increasing the appeal of riskier assets such as equities and commodities.
1.Strong company earnings drove Asian and European equity markets higher, diluting the impact of data that showed manufacturing in China, the world's top copper consumer, shrank in July.
2.Copper for 3-months delivery on the LME rose to $7,427 a tonne; it’s highest since April 30 and was at $7,370 a tonne in the open outcry trade, versus Friday's $7,298. At 1213 GMT copper traded at $7,381 per tonne up by 1.14%.
3.Copper inventories fell 425 tonnes on Monday, slowing slightly. Stocks stood at 413,075 tonnes, their lowest since mid-November 2009.
4.India copper futures maintained the upward trend and are up above 1% tracking firm international copper.
5.Strong rupee kept the check on prices and upside was in a limit.
6.The most-active August copper on MCX at 06:15 PM traded at Rs. 341.85 up by 1.08%.
7."One can buy August copper August above 336, targeting 339/342, with a stop loss of 333.2," said Pranav Mer, senior analyst with Mangal Keshav Commodities.
OTHER BASE METALS: Industrial metals hit multi-month highs on Monday, aluminium touched a 3-month high, while tin saw its highest since September 2008. Zinc, lead and nickel have all hit their highest since May, also helped by a weaker dollar.
1.Tin inventories fell, indicating improving demand. Stocks were at 15,005 tonnes, the lowest since June 2009 and nearly halving this year. The metal was at $19,825 a tonne from Friday's 19,500.
2.LME nickel was untraded in the rings but was last bid at $21,500 a tonne from $21,150, while lead was at $2,115 a tonne from $2,075. Zinc was last bid at $2,030 a tonne from $2,025. LME aluminium hit $2,203 a tonne, its highest since May 4 and was at $2,192 a tonne from $2,170.
3.Financing deals as well as talk of a launch of an exchange traded fund (ETF) in aluminium was helping the metal.
