DJ PRECIOUS METALS: NY Gold Seen Up $7, Silver Up 14 Cents
April gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York about $7 an
ounce higher Thursday, 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 14 cents an ounce.
Spot gold attracted some bargain hunting in overseas trading after the recent
pullback, London-based analysts said.
At 7:57 a.m. EST, spot gold was trading up $7.85 to $913.80.
In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term,
the euro is down to $1.2556 from $1.2660 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen
trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are down 12.10 points
to 696. April crude oil is down $1.56 to $43.82 a barrel in overnight activity.
The U.S. economic calendar includes:
-initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), forecast to fall 12,000
to 655,000;
-revised fourth-quarter productivity and costs at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT),
with non-farm productivity forecast to be up 0.8% and unit labor costs up 4.2%;
and
-January factory orders at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), expected to fall 3.5%.
In New York Wednesday, gold futures declined on profit-taking as rising
equities calmed some of the market anxiety that has helped gold as a safe-haven
buy recently. April gold fell $6.90 to settle at $906.70, while May silver rose
20 cents to $12.915.
Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 60,200 ounces at 8,655,661 ounces
Wednesday, while silver stocks were up 993,769 ounces at 125,113,047 ounces.
-By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
allen.sykora@dowjones.com
