FXS: PRECIOUS METALS: NY Gold Seen Steady, Silver Up 11 Cents
PRECIOUS METALS: NY Gold Seen Steady, Silver Up 11 Cents
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
April gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around unchanged levels Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. May silver is expected to be up 11 cents an ounce.
At 7:54 a.m. EST, spot gold was trading down $3.30 to $912.50.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.2540 from $1.2572 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are up 10.50 points to 699.80. April crude oil is up $1.14 to $42.79 a barrel in overnight activity.
The ADP national private-sector employment report is scheduled for release at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT), with expectations for a decline of 630,000 jobs last month.
The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index is due out at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT). The February reading is expected to be 41, down from 42.9 in January.
Weekly energy-inventory data - which has the ability to impact crude oil, which in turn often leads metals - is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).
Also, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report is set for release at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT).
In New York Tuesday, gold futures slid back toward $900 an ounce as participants sold the metal to raise cash to deal with recent equities-market declines, and investor demand appears to be waning. April gold fell $26.40, or more than 2.8%, to settle at $913.60 an ounce, while May silver slumped 35.5 cents to settle at $12.715 an ounce.
Comex gold warehouse stocks were up 79,998 ounces at 8,715,861 ounces Tuesday, while silver stocks were down 2,080 ounces at 124,119,278 ounces.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765; allen.sykora@dowjones.com
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