MW:Gold futures take a break after Fed-inspired gains
By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Gold futures slipped back from a seven-week high during electronic trading Friday, as buyers took a breather after strong recent gains inspired by the Federal Reserve’s projection of ultra-low interest rates through 2014.
The February futures contract of the precious metal GC2G -0.46% dropped $8.40, or 0.5%, to $1,718.30, after surging $26.60 Thursday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices have risen nearly 10% so far this month, including an increase of about 3.3% just this week, even as the Lunar New Year holidays deprived the metal of Chinese investor demand.
Among other metals, March futures for copper HG2H -0.64% declined 0.4% to $3.89 a pound, while silver futures for delivery in the same month SI2H -0.71% gave up 0.7% to $33.52 an ounce.
April platinum futures PL2J -0.43% slipped 0.2% to $1,613 an ounce, and the March palladium contract PA2H -0.50% lost 0.4% to $691.50 an ounce.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
