Platinum dropped below $1990 in Hong Kong, then rode a roller coaster through the day, to end at $2013/oz., down $24. Overnight, platinum is slightly higher.

Silver declined gently until the New York open, after which it fell off a cliff, dropping 40 cents in less than an hour, but it too pushed higher after noon to close at $16.44/oz., down 41 cents. Overnight, silver is sharply lower.
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The precious metals’ rally lasted all of a day, as they reverted to a downtrend yesterday with a pickup in the dollar.

Gold was also pressured early in the session by oil prices that were off sharply and a stock market that rallied strongly. Even though both reversed trend later in the day, gold was unable to recover.

“The market’s roller-coaster pattern continued amid the high-noon standoff developing between the Fed and the U.S. dollar’s morticians,” said Kitco’s Jon Nadler.

The tension between the dangers of letting inflation run vs. raising rates in order to head it off does seem to be ramping up. Observers are watching the dollar’s relationship to the euro as an indication of market sentiment.

At the moment, “The perception … is that there will be higher interest rates,” said Frank McGhee, of Integrated Brokerage Services in Chicago. “Another break in the euro, and you’ll just see the world step on gold.”

Source: Precious Metals take it on the Chin Again – Interest Rate Uncertainty Driving Market