Bullion metals rise for second straight day

Silver manages weekly gain though gold remains unchanged

After eight days of drop, bullion metals prices rose for second straight day on Friday, 06 March, 2009. Prices rose as stock prices remained suppressed due to the job report from the Labor Department increasing the appeal of the precious metals.

Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa.

On Friday, Comex Gold for April delivery rose $14.9 (1.6%) to close at $942.7 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, the yellow metal remained almost nchanged. For the month of February, gold ended higher by 7.4%. For January, 2009, gold had gained 3.9%. Year to date, gold prices are higher by 6.4%.

On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped somewhat (8.9%) since then.

On Friday, Comex silver futures for March delivery rose 21.3 cents (1.6%) to end at $13.333 an ounce. For the week, silver rose 1.7%. In February, 2009, silver had rose 4.3% after climbing 14% in January. Year to date, silver has climbed 20.3% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.

US stocks managed to stay somewhat steady on Friday even after Labor Department announced that the number of jobs lost totaled 651,000 in February, which matched expectations, but previous months were revised downward to show sharper losses. The unemployment rate, however, rose to 8.1% from 7.6%, which was worse than the expected reading of 7.9%.

In 2008, gold prices ended higher by 5.5%. The dollar index had gained 12% that year.

Last year, the weakening dollar and higher global demand for raw materials had led to records for commodities including gold. Gold reached a record in March 2008 as a U.S. housing slump and credit crisis spurred the Federal Reserve to slash borrowing costs. In the last move, the Federal Reserve has cuts its target bank lending rate to 0.25% from 5.25% in September, 2007. The Fed did it in nine steps.

Prior to 2008, gold had witnessed the greatest annual gain in twenty eight years by gaining $200/ounce (31%) in FY 2007 as lower interest rates had sent the dollar tumbling, and crude-oil prices rose to a record. Silver had climbed 16% in FY 2007. In 2006, silver had jumped 46% while gold gained 23%.

At the MCX, gold prices for April delivery closed higher by Rs 406 (2.7%) at Rs 15,397 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 15,429 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 15,008 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for May delivery closed Rs 572 (2.6%) higher at Rs 22,424/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 22,051/kg and rose to a high of Rs 22,488/Kg during the day's trading.