Palladium contract rallies, biggest percentage gainer; copper lags
By Myra P. Saefong and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rose Thursday, buoyed by the Federal Reserve’s reiterated commitment to ultra-easy monetary policy.
Gold for December delivery GCZ2 +0.69% gained $14.80, or 0.9%, to $1,716.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures had settled $7.80 lower on Wednesday, bouncing off the psychologically important $1,700 level.
“It is too early to tell yet if the October correction is over,” said Mark O’Byrne, executive director at GoldCore. “But a higher close this week would suggest the recent dip is over and it is time to get into position for November, which is one of gold’s strongest months.”
Gold has risen 1.6% since last Thursday.
After the close of regular gold trading Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee made no changes to its ultra-easy monetary policy, continuing to express concern over the trajectory of growth in the largest global economy as well as weak employment trends.
“The market was not expecting much from [Wednesday’s] Fed statement, and nothing much is exactly what it got,” Ben Traynor, chief economist at BullionVault, wrote in emailed comments. “Nonetheless, the commitment to ongoing asset purchases at $40 billion a month should be a supportive factor for gold. The initial impact of last month’s announcement may have worn off, but the steady drip-drip of liquidity will go on.”
The Fed’s decision to maintain monetary policy helped gold “stage a slight recovery overnight,” wrote analysts at Commerzbank in a note to clients. However, “following the serious losses of recent days, it remains vulnerable, and short-term market players will no doubt be selling more of their positions.”
Gold futures on Thursday moved off a session high of $1,718.90 as the U.S. dollar picked up strength during the session as speculation about a Fitch Ratings downgrade of U.S. debt circulated.
Strength in the U.S. dollar tends to weigh on metal prices.
The ICE dollar index DXY +0.05% , a measure of the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major global currencies, was at 79.973, up from 79.932 late Wednesday.
In other metals trading, December silver futures SIZ2 +1.25% rallied, gaining 55 cents, or 1.7%, to $32.16 an ounce, while December copper HGZ2 -0.69% slipped 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $3.56 a pound.
January platinum PLF3 +0.81% gained $15.50, or 1%, to $1,578.20 an ounce and December palladium PAZ2 +1.54% traded at $605.55 an ounce, up $12.80, or 2.2%.
Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.
Carla Mozee is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Los Angeles.
