Copper recoups some losses after settling at lowest since November By Claudia Assis and Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures traded lower Wednesday, struggling to keep above $1,800 an ounce as the U.S. dollar strengthened and garnered attention ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s announcement on monetary policy. Gold for December delivery GC1Z -0.24% fell $9.60, or 0.5%, to $1,800 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost more than $30, or 1.7%, on Tuesday. “Markets will likely be quiet in front of FOMC announcement ... and there is little change in European economic headlines,” said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at Telvent DTN. “This allows gold to post a minor, short-term selloff before rallying again.” Weakness in gold came as investors turned their attention to the U.S. currency, lifting the dollar index DXY +0.02% to 77.148 from 77.089 late Tuesday in North American trading. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a plan later Wednesday to swap shorter-maturity government securities for longer-dated ones in another stab at jolting the slow-moving U.S. economy. Read the Fed preview story. If the Fed makes such an announcement, it could support the gold market by putting renewed pressure on the U.S. dollar index, said Newsom. Platinum and palladium edged lower along with gold prices after posting gains in the previous session, but copper and silver traded modestly higher. October platinum PL1V +0.01% shed $1.40, or 0.1%, to $1,780.50 an ounce, trimming some losses. Palladium for December delivery PA1Z -0.72% slipped $7.10, or 1%, to $711 an ounce, adding to its decline. The December copper contract HG1Z +1.02% rose 2 cents, or 0.4%, at $3.74 a pound. On Tuesday, prices for the industrial metal finished at their lowest settlement level since November 23, 2010. Suuply-and-demand fundamentals for copper continued to strengthen, providing support for the metal. The International Copper Study Group said Tuesday the refined copper market showed a production deficit of 42,000 metric tons in June, and, for the first half of 2011, a production deficit of 130,000 metric tons. That compares to a production deficit of 286,000 metric tons in the same period of 2010. Copper usage grew “a modest” 1% in the first half compared to the first six months of 2010, the ICSG said in a press release. December silver SI1Z +0.69% rose 15 cents, or 0.4%, at $40.28 an ounce. Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch. Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

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