Gold, Silver Lackluster, Platinum Gains as Quarter Ends
Jul 1st, 2008 | By Doug Casey | Category: Gold MarketGold pushed higher overseas, peaking at $935 at the mid-point of London trading, declined from there straight through to nearly the noon hour, bottoming at $920 before rallying for most of the rest of the day, finishing at $924.90/oz., down $1.90 from Friday. Overnight, gold is sharply higher.
Platinum was traded in a jittery fashion through a range of about $40, ending near the middle at $2051/oz., up $9. Overnight, platinum has moved higher.
Silver’s push higher was sharper than gold’s, and its fall even steeper, from $17.87 to $17.18, before it too rose after the noon hour, to close at $17.40/oz., down 8 cents. Overnight, silver has been trending higher.
(Click here for charts)
Although platinum edged higher, gold and silver were off modestly, as traders apparently decided to book a few profits after the runup late last week. The squaring of positions at the month’s and quarter’s end likely factored in as well.
The usual suspects provided little in the way of direction, as oil pulled back from its highs and the dollar rose marginally.
“It’s all about the dollar right now,” wrote Dale Doelling, chief market technician at Trends In Commodities. “A sharp decline in the greenback overnight gave gold and crude oil every reason to trade sharply higher, but the dollar is showing signs of life — pulling gold lower … and crude well off its high.”
Gold spun its wheels to little effect during the second quarter of this year, climbing a meager 0.7%. Nevertheless, June may have marked a turnaround, as the metal added 4.1% during the month. It’s also up 10.8% so far this year.
With metals traders focusing more on the dollar at the moment, the European Central Bank’s meeting this week looms large. The ECB is widely expected to hike its key lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.25%.
Any widening of the interest rate spread between Europe and the U.S. is poison for the dollar and gold-positive.
However, any effects on gold may be delayed. The ECB doesn’t meet until Thursday, and Friday the markets are closed for the 4th of July holiday. That will leave traders with a long weekend to think about what their response is going to be.
Next Monday could easily bring a more volatile session than any day this week.
Source: Gold, Silver Lackluster, Platinum Gains as Quarter Ends
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Doug Casey is a contrarian investor, sought-after public speaker and author of several books. His work "Crisis Investing" held the position of # 1 bestseller on the New York Times list for 26 consecutive weeks. Doug's unusual views on the economy - and just about everything else - have gained a huge following in the investment community, and it certainly helps that his stock recommendations of undervalued junior exploration companies have made his subscribers millions. Now in its 27th year, Doug's monthly newsletter, the International Speculator, is one of the most established and esteemed publications on gold, silver and other natural resource investments. Together with the Casey Energy Speculator, it covers a broad range of carefully selected stocks with the very real potential of double- and triple-digit returns within 12 to 24 months.