The Conversation (0)
Gold prices are up from a 15-month low reached earlier this week, though down slightly for the day as a strong US dollar capped some gains. Silver and copper prices were also held down, and oil fell to its lowest price since 2010.
Gold has rebounded from its 15-month low on Monday, and is on track to see its biggest weekly gain in four months. On Friday, the yellow metal fell 0.3 percent or $3.66 to $1,219.94 per ounce, according to Reuters, as the dollar rose. However, gold’s price was supported around $1,220 by fears of a global economic slowdown.
“We saw a great bounce from the triple bottom, but once again momentum faded,” Sharps Pixley CEO Ross Norman told Reuters. “Gold is now at the top end of the range $1,183-$1,240 at the moment tracking sideways, looking to see whether the US dollar should weaken … but at the moment we don’t see it getting through resistance at $1,240.”
US gold futures for December delivery dropped $4.50 to $1,220.60 per ounce.
Meanwhile, silver dropped 0.2 percent or $0.02 to trade at $17.26 per ounce.
Copper prices fell 1.3 percent or $86.25 to $6,635 per tonne, according to Reuters, which is not too far off the recent five-month low. Copper is suffering from serious investor concerns about whether the global economy will enter a slow period, with weak indicators from China, Japan and Brazil as well as Europe.
“Where there is fear in the market, it is difficult to find buyers and the price starts sliding, and this is what we are experiencing for copper,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, told Reuters. “Taper tantrum, fragile European and Chinese growth and strength in the US dollar are the major reasons for the weak demand for copper.”
Copper futures for December delivery fell 1.1 percent to $2.9965 per pound on New York’s Comex, according to Bloomberg.
Brent crude oil is at its lowest level since 2010, down $0.70 at $89.35 a barrel, according to Reuters. This drop came after Saudi Arabia announced it had increased oil production last month and investors began to fear an OPEC price war.