DJ PRECIOUS METALS: NY Gold Seen Up $15, Silver Up 32 Cents
April gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $15
an ounce higher Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session
at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver is
expected to be up 32 cents an ounce.
Spot gold continued the prior day's surge overseas on continued safe-haven
buying due to worries about the world's financial system, plus short covering,
London-based traders said. Technical buying was triggered.
At 7:58 a.m. EST, spot gold was trading up $11.55 to $920.75.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is down to $1.2823 from $1.2955 late Thursday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are down 9 points to
833.90. March crude oil is down 7 cents to $41.37 a barrel in overnight
activity.
A heavy slate of U.S. economic data is on the calendar, including:
- advance fourth-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT),
forecast to fall 5.5%;
- the fourth-quarter Employment Cost Index at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT),
expected to be up 0.7%;
- the January Chicago Purchasing Managers Index at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT),
expected to slip to 34.5 from 35.1 in December; and
- the University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index at 9:55 a.m. EST (1455
GMT), forecast to come in at 61.9, the same level as mid-month.
In New York Thursday, a resumption of safe-haven buying amid stock-market
weakness and general concerns about banks enabled gold futures to halt their 2
1/2-day profit-taking pullback and head higher again. April gold rose $16.50 to
$906.50 an ounce, while March silver added 18.2 cents to $12.145.
Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 903 ounces at 8,556,795 ounces
Thursday, while silver stocks were up 316,675 ounces at 123,952,877 ounces.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
allen.sykora@dowjones.com
