Gold Prices Drift Lower
NEW YORK (
) --
were drifting lower Tuesday on lackluster buying.
Gold for June delivery was losing $1.30 to $1,110.20 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have trade as high as $1,114.20 and as low as $1,108.70 Tuesday. The
was down 0.09% to $81.20. Gold's spot price was down 70 cents, according to Kitco's gold index.
The dollar was losing some ground Tuesday on a euro comeback. The eurozone currency received a boost from the EU/IMF joint financial aid resolution to the Greek debt crisis. The news provided a short-term boost for gold with prices settling up Monday at $1,111.50 an ounce. Some profit-taking and thinner volume were tempering gold's upside, and volatility is expected for the remainder of the shortened trading week.
Gold will continue to look to the dollar/euro dance and market risk appetite for direction with bargain hunters buying the precious metal at the $1,100 level. The popular physically backed ETF,
SPDR Gold Shares
(GLD) - Get Report
, added 5.18 tons on Monday as investors bought the alternative asset.
A report from the World Gold Council,
Gold in the Year of the Tiger
said that Chinese gold consumption could reach $29 billion in a decade. Juan Carlos Artigas, Investment Research Manager for World Gold Council wrote that "China currently consumes about 0.26gm/capita, a comparatively low amount to other nations. India consumes about 0.35gm/per capita, the US about 0.5gm/capita." If gold is consumed in China at the same rate as other countries, the WGC sees jewelry demand growing 100 tons to 3,000 tons. "The
Chinese gold market is still in a developing stage, as regulation prior to 2002 made it difficult for Chinese consumers to access the market."
were down 2 cents to $17.36 while copper was up 1 cent to $3.55. "I think the feature is going to be copper and platinum," says George Gero, vice president of global futures at RBC Capital Markets. "While gold is doing well and will probably continue to do well, traders may begin to focus on copper and certainly
on platinum and palladium."
Mining stocks, a more leveraged way to
, were mixed.
Barrick Gold
(ABX)
was adding 0.24% to $37.90 while
Newmont Mining
(NEM) - Get Report
was trading at $50.37. Other large cap miners
Kinross Gold
(KGC) - Get Report
and
Goldcorp
(GG)
were at $17.29 and $37.51, respectively.
Shares of
Hecla Mining
(HL) - Get Report
were just over $5 at $5.42 after the stock was upgraded to neutral from underperform at
Bank of America
.
Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold
(FCX) - Get Report
was trading slightly higher at $83.10. The company announced a 15 cent dividend for common shares.
Yamana Gold
(AUY) - Get Report
was trading at $9.98.
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--
Written by Alix Steel in New York
.
Alix joined TheStreet.com TV in February 2007. Previously, she held positions in film and theater production, management, and legal administration. Alix has a degree in communications and theater from Northwestern University.
