Spot Gold Up, but Platinum Steals Spotlight

New York spot gold prices edged up Monday, but the spotlight was on the platinum group of metals, which made substantial advances amid renewed economic enthusiasm.

Author:: Andrea Tse
Publish date:: Apr 5, 2010 4:54 PM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- New York spot gold prices edged up Monday, but the spotlight was on the platinum group of metals, which made substantial advances amid renewed economic enthusiasm.

William Rhind, strategic director of

ETF Securities'

U.S. unit said"the global auto recovery, the impact of the softer U.S. dollar, and potential supply concerns out of South Africa are driving platinum group metal prices," according to

Reuters

, while HSBC analyst James Steel said that light trading volume attributable to many closed overseas markets Monday helped exaggerate movements in certain markets like palladium, the

Associated Press

reported.

Spot gold prices have risen $5.40, or about 0.5%, to $1,131.80 an ounce.

New York spot silver prices are up 18 cents, or 1%, to $18.10 an ounce in the intraday.

New York spot platinum prices have risen $33, or 2%, to $1,701 an ounce, while its sister metal has gained ground.

New York spot palladium prices are up $11, or 2.3% in the afternoon at $500 an ounce.

Mining stocks, which offer another form of exposure to precious metals, finished Monday's trading session in positive territory. The biggest gainers include

Silver Wheaton

(SLW)

stock , which finished up 3.6% at $16.80 and

Silvercorp Metals

(SVM) - Get Report

stock, which ended the day up 3.3% at $7.30. Meanwhile,

ETFS Physical Palladium

(PALL) - Get Report

shares finished up 3% at $50.40.

-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York

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