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Message: COMMODITIES - Market & Metal News - Charts
Gold steady, restrained by dollar
LONDON - Gold steadied after multi-week lows on Monday, lacking momentum as the U.S. dollar held near three-month highs, with the currency partly underpinned by concerns about debt problems in Dubai and Greece.
Last week gold fell below a psychological support level of $1,100 (U.S.) to a six-week low of $1,094.50, losing grip of a record high above $1,226 hit on Dec. 3.
Gold eked out modest gains, trading at $1,113.10 an ounce at 1038 GMT, versus $1,112.25 an ounce late in New York on Friday when bullion rose.
"The dollar's been going through a bout of strength in recent weeks and that's been keeping the market pinned down," said Standard Chartered analyst Daniel Smith in London.
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Silver was at $17.33 an ounce from $17.26 and platinum was at $1,431 from $1,427.50. Palladium was at $366 from $359.50.
"We now believe the probable year-end gold price will be around $1,050," Commerzbank said in a note.
"The other precious metals, particularly silver, are likely to follow in gold's wake, albeit with a wider volatility range, and to ease in the next few days in the absence of any significant upward pressure from the U.S. dollar."
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Copper (HG-FT) held a firmer tone in late business Friday, as outside market supports enabled prices to recover from earlier dollar-related losses, with the threat of a strike in Chile and the likelihood of stronger demand adding to positive sentiment.
Benchmark copper for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division ended up 1.05 cents (U.S.) at $3.1385 a pound, recovering from an earlier session trough at $3.1030, its lowest level since Dec. 10.
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Aluminum ended up $22 at $2,242 a tonne and held near its 14-month high of $2,305 on Monday.
A shortage of available material is reflected in premiums for physical material over the cash price.
Japanese buyers have agreed to roughly 7 per cent to 13 per cent hikes in premiums for the first quarter of 2010.
Tin earlier hit a 14-month high of $16,000, as analysts cited worries about production cuts in Indonesia, the world's top exporter of the metal.
It closed at $15,800 a tonne from $15,775 at the close Thursday, zinc was bid at $2,405 from $2,391 and battery material lead at $2,320 from $2,359.
Nickel ended at $17,130 from $17,100. Stocks of nickel rose 768 tonnes to 148,458 tonnes, their loftiest level since 1994 and within touching distance of the record high of 151,254 set in November, 1994.
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