Mixed finish for Bullions

Silver shines but gold drops for third straight day Bullion metal prices mixed on Thursday, 29 March 2012 at Comex. Gold prices ended lower for third straight day while silver prices rose. Comex gold futures ended the U.S. day session modestly lower on some follow-through selling pressure from solid losses posted on Wednesday. There was downside pressure on most raw commodity futures markets, including the precious metals. The key “outside markets” were also bearish for the precious metals on Thursday, as the U.S. dollar index was steady and crude oil prices were sharply lower. Gold for June delivery ended lower by $5.6 or 0.3%, to end at $1,654.9 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday. The metal had struggled for direction earlier, veering between small gains and losses. Prices shed 1.7% on the month of February 2012. On Thursday, silver prices for May delivery ended higher by $0.16 or 0.5% at $31.99. Silver gained 6.5% during February 2012. Also bearish for the gold market is a sellers' strike in India, due to the Indian government's imposition of a new sales tax on gold purchases. Recent reports have also said there have been investor outflows in exchange traded gold funds. In the currency market on Thursday, the Dollar Index, which weighs the strength of dollar against basket of six other currencies fell by almost 0.1%. The greenback had another relatively quiet session in that the Dollar Index traded near the neutral line for the better part of the day and into the close. 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. But bullions have registered increase in prices despite strong dollar in recent times and vice versa. Prior to the open traders shrugged off the final reading on fourth quarter GDP. Unchanged from the previous report, it showed that the economy expanded at a rate of 3.0%, just as had been widely anticipated. The latest initial jobless claims count also failed to excite; claims climbed 9,000 week-over-week to 359,000, which is greater than the tally of 350,000 that had been expected. At the MCX, gold prices for June delivery closed higher by Rs 62 (0.21%) at Rs 28,615 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 28,670 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 28,508 per 10 grams during the day's trading. At the MCX, silver prices for May delivery closed higher by Rs 193 (0.34%) at Rs 56,771/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 56,682/kg and rose to a high of Rs 56,884/Kg during the day's trading.