Silver contract’s back trading at highest in more than three decades
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures set their sights on a fresh record Wednesday, rising on fears of inflation and worries about the Middle East and North Africa, as silver rallied to its best price in three decades.
Gold for April delivery (GCJ11 1,435, +4.00, +0.28%) rose $5.90, or 0.4%, to $1,437 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It closed at $1,431.20 an ounce, a record high, in the previous session.
May silver (SIH11 3,471, +29.40, +0.85%) added 42 cents, or 1.2%, to $34.84 an ounce. A close around these levels would be silver’s highest in 31 years.
“Given the continuing strong fundamentals and the concerns of geopolitical instability spreading to Saudi Arabia and other autocratic oil-producing nations, gold and silver look set to challenge $1,500/oz and $40/oz in the coming weeks,” analysts at Goldcore said in a note to clients Wednesday.
A major contributor to investors’ inflationary worries, crude-oil futures in New York changed hands at more than $100 a barrel on Wednesday. Crude for April delivery (CLJ11 100.31, +0.68, +0.68%) rose 72 cents to $100.38 a barrel. Read more about oil at $100.
The “rising oil prices are strengthening inflation concerns, making precious metals all the more attractive as a store-of-value investment,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a report.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi restated his vow to stay in power, saying turmoil roiling his country is a foreign conspiracy, according to media reports Wednesday. Government and rebel forces battled over control of eastern Libya.
Other metals traked gold and silver higher, but copper retreated as concerns about the prospect of oil prices denting the economic recovery diminished the industrial metal’s appeal.
Copper for March delivery (HGH11 446.80, -2.25, -0.50%) was off 2 cents, or 0.5%, to $4.47 a pound.
