The base metals were all mired in the red on Wednesday. Copper sagged from the gitgo and, despite a late morning attempt at a rally, finished at its intraday low of $1.7714/lb., down more than 16¾ cents.

Gold pushed higher in the overseas markets, peaking near $740 in mid-London trading, but hit the skids at that point, dropping nearly $15 by the second hour in New York, then was flat through the Comex, before finally tailing off again during the Globex to finish at $722.00, down $1.70 from Friday. Overnight, gold has pushed higher.

Gold pushed higher in Hong Kong, peaking at $755, then declined slowly until the late morning in New York, bottoming at $728, and finally rose again slowly through the Globex to finish at $743.80, up $15.20. Overnight, gold has edged higher.

Gold hung in at $900 until London opened, then declined modestly until about an hour into the New York session, after which it was hammered, falling as low as $873 before making a small comeback during the Globex to finish at $877.00/oz., down $22.90. Overnight, gold has been flat.

Gold was tightly rangebound from the overseas markets straight through the NYMEX and Globex sessions on Wednesday, bouncing between $860 and $870, and finishing at $864.40, down $1.30.

The base metals were nearly all in the red on Thursday. Copper just can’t seem to hold the $4 level, as it shot to $4.10 in the pre-dawn hours but fell steadily from there, finishing just off its intraday low at $3.9701/lb., down 3 2/3 cents.