Interesting Article on Gold Pricehttps://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gold-futures-climb-near-six-month/story.aspx?guid=%7B5F8DD86A%2D1F6D%2D4600%2DA7EB%2DCBCDA1EA4288%7D
METALS STOCKS
Gold futures climb to near six-month highs
Prices pass key resistance at $650 an ounce as the U.S. dollar slips
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By Myra P. Saefong & Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:15 AM ET Feb 1, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures climbed Thursday morning to their highest level since mid-August, ready to extend their winning streak to three sessions as recent strength in oil prices and a dip in the value of the dollar helped lift prices for the precious metals past $660 an ounce.
Gold for February delivery climbed $7 to stand at $659 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose as high as $661.50 earlier, an intraday level the contract hasn't seen since Aug. 11.
April gold was last up $8.40 to $666.30 after a high of $667, the contract's strongest intraday level since Aug. 9.
"As expected, gold has broken above key resistance at $650 and now appears to be making a beeline towards $700," said Peter Grandich, editor of the Grandich Letter.
"The fact that it did so in the face of reported talks to sell some IMF gold holdings is yet another indicator of how strong gold really is," he said. On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund proposed the sale of about 400 metric tons of gold to help fund its activities. The current market value of the gold amounts to $6.6 billion, it said. See full story.
Futures prices for gold had ended Wednesday's regular trading session almost $8 higher.
And in overnight electronic trading, prices for the metals continued higher after the Federal Open Market Committee kept its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25% and was upbeat on the economy.
"Having pushed on through the resistance we noted at or near the $650/ounce level, we have added to our outright long positions," said Dennis Gartman, editor of The Gartman Letter early Thursday. "We remain long of gold also relative to crude oil, and despite the massive rally in U.S. equities yesterday, we remain long of gold relative to stocks."
Elsewhere on the commodity markets, crude-oil futures were slightly higher, holding ground above $58 a barrel Thursday on expectations that demand for fuel will rise as the U.S. economy appears in better shape than previously thought and after data showed the first decline in distillates in seven weeks. See Futures Movers.
On the currency markets, the dollar fell against the euro and yen after a pair of U.S. government reports showing tamer-than-expected core inflation and initial jobless claims at a two-week low. See full story.
Other metals prices were mainly higher, though March copper fell by 0.65 cent to $2.588 a pound after rising more than 3 cents in the previous session.
March silver added 22 cents to $13.79 an ounce, and April platinum rose $17.70 to $1,200 an ounce. March palladium gained $6.95 to $347.50 an ounce.
On the supply side, gold inventories increased 27,810 troy ounces to stand at 7.46 million troy ounces as of late Wednesday, according to Nymex data. Silver supplies added 11,660 troy ounces to stand at 113.97 million troy ounces, while copper stockpiles declined 166 short tons to stand at 35,969 short tons.
In equities trading, the main benchmarks tracking metals and mining stocks traded broadly higher for a third-straight session.
The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index (XAU :
phlx gold silver index capital-weight
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Last: 141.90+2.01+1.44%
12:08pm 02/01/2007
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XAU141.90, +2.01, +1.4% ) was up 1.8% at 142.43. The CBOE Gold Index (GOX :
CBOE Gold Index
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Last: 148.16+1.99+1.36%
12:28pm 02/01/2007
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GOX148.16, +1.99, +1.4% ) rose 1.9% to 148.95 and the Amex Gold Bugs (HUI :
amex gold bugs index equal-$ weight
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Last: 341.07+5.06+1.51%
12:28pm 02/01/2007
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HUI341.07, +5.06, +1.5% ) was at 342.67, gaining 2%.
The DJ Wilshire Nonferrous Metals Index was at 6,194.79 and the DJ Wilshire Industrial Metals Index stood at 3,601.76, with both up 0.7%. The DJ Wilshire General Mining Index gained 0.3% to trade at 1,324.08. End of Story
Myra P. Saefong is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.