CHICAGO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange recovered from earlier lows on Monday amid thin holiday trading.
) R% n3 G ^* V C9 T A weaker U.S. dollar and short-covering helped lift gold prices. Platinum also edged higher, but silver barely changed.
6 S3 [& m% K' J, P$ e The most active gold contract for February delivery added 2.4 dollars, or 0.2 percent, to 1,382.9 dollars per ounce.
9 W, {( R/ I& b9 X A trader said that the precious metal was under downward pressure following an interest rate hike by China's central bank over the Christmas weekend, but it quickly regained some steam and managed to eke out a 0.2 percent gain.' Y) b1 ^$ A( h2 n- Q+ ^
Daniel Haugh, the president of PTI Securities & Futures LP, mentioned that the gold market didn't react to the Chinese rate hike as many analyst has expected," Maybe the movement is too small to have a significant effect on the gold market. Investors had expected more," said Haugh./ ?, l% _7 f0 h0 D! V3 w, c. q
"Bargain hunters helped support the gold market as investors showed strong buying interest after the Christmas Day rate hike from the Asian sector as the comex and globex exchanges were closed," said Mike Daly, a gold specialist with PFGbest.7 I+ `& q- K6 F; m8 r
"I think many investors were expecting the hike as there was profit-taking all last week, which certainly helped prevent an avalanche type sell-off," Daly added.% B$ n c# W$ y5 r @, ^+ k. L1 {
The greenback slid against a basket of six major currencies on Monday, which helped buoy up the dollar-denominated gold futures, as it makes gold more attractive to buyers using foreign currencies. Meanwhile, the short-covering also added upward pressure on gold.
' @$ s; i) p/ Z1 X: i Silver futures for March delivery trimmed 7.3 cents, to 29.255 dollars per ounce. January platinum advanced 12.4 dollars, or 0.7 percent, to 1,735.5 dollars per ounce. |