Bullion metals end mixed

Gold registers 3% weekly drop in prices

Precious metals (gold) ended lower on Friday, 01 May, 2009. Prices dropped as earning and economic reports checked in better than expected on Friday reducing the appeal of precious metals as a safe bet for investment. But silver gained for the day.

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 June delivery lost $3 (0.3%) to close at $888.2 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, gold ended lower by 3%. Year to date, gold prices are practically unchanged.

For the month of April, gold lost 3.7%, the second consecutive monthly drop. For the month of March, gold fell 2.1%, down for the first month in five. But the metal gained 4.3% in the first quarter. Before March, for the month of February, gold ended higher by 7.4%. For January, 2009, gold had gained 3.9%.

On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped somewhat (15%) since then.

On Friday, Comex silver futures for July delivery gained 17.5 cents (1.4%) at $12.5 an ounce. Year to date, silver has climbed 6.5% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.

On Friday, the ISM Manufacturing Index for April came in at 40.1. That was much better than the 38.4 that was expected, and was also up from 36.3 in March. But economic conditions remained dour as factory orders for March declined 0.9%, which was worse than the 0.6% decline that was widely expected, and February orders were revised lower to reflect an increase of 0.7%.

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