Gold And Silver Trading Near Top Of Recent Ranges

Gold gave back some of yesterday’s gains in early Asian trading declining by $4.20 to trade at 1333.80 remaining close to the top of its trading range. Silver gave up 159 points continuing its wild swings to trade at 21.93. Gold is seen gaining strengthen on concerns over growth in China which is seen faltering and the unrest in Ukraine, which could default on its payment. Oleksander Turchinov, Ukraine’s acting President, has sought global help to overcome the financial crisis after the country angered Russia by staging a coup to oust Viktor Yanukovych. Investors, too, have joined the rally that however seems short-term. Holdings in SPDR Trust, world’s biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, are back above 800 tons at 801.61 tons. Adding to concerns of market players would be the drop in gold holdings in SPDR Trust, the world’s largest bullion-backed exchange traded fund, to below 800 tons. The trust said that during the weekend its holdings dropped to 795.61 tons, an indication that investors are looking at every available opportunity to book profits.

More cues for gold should be available later in the day when the US releases its home price index and consumer confidence. A recovery in the US economy and data, due later in the day and which could point to where the economy is heading, will keep the market quiet for a major part of the day.

“So far gold’s resilience has surprised me,” Marex Spectron’s David Govett said. “We have dipped off a few times, but these dips have been met by some good buying, and certainly some of the large selling that was so evident last year seems to have disappeared.” Govett did, however, warn that the Shanghai premium has fallen flat, and that doesn’t bode well for those who believe that Chinese buying will save the gold market.

The latest rise could be a move to safety ahead of economic numbers in the coming weeks that some expect to be weak. Uncertainty in Ukraine, Venezuela and Egypt are also to blame for the jitters that tend to draw investors to gold.

In other metals news, platinum dipped $8.20, or 0.6%, to $1,433.20 an ounce, while palladium eased by $5, or 0.7%, to $738.05 an ounce. Copper, which sat out the metals rally in the prior session amid weakness in the Chinese yuan, dropped another penny to $3.26 a pound. Copper prices are failing to rise even as stockpiles slump because of concern that slowing growth in China will stifle demand, according to Societe Generale SA. Chinese manufacturing data released last week by HSBC and Markit Economics fell to the lowest level in seven months. The nation accounts for about 45 percent of global copper consumption, according to Barclays Plc, which estimates supply, will outpace demand by 81,000 metric tons this year.