Strong monthly losses for bullions

On a quarterly basis, gold rises but silver slumps

Precious metals ended mixed once again on Friday, 30 September 2011 at Comex. Yellow metal prices ended higher while silver turned pale. Comparatively lower price of gold in recent times once again attracted buyers. The relatively strong dollar also played its role.

Gold for December delivery rose $5 or 0.3%, to end at $1,622.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Prices dropped to a low of $1,607.8 and rose to a high of $1,642.5 during intra day trading. For the month of September, gold shed 11%. It registered a rise of 8% for the third quarter ending September.



On Friday, silver prices for December delivery fell $0.44 (1.4%) to end at $30.08. For the month of September, silver shed 28%. It registered a drop of 14% for the third quarter ending September.

US stocks remained mired in the red on Friday. Since the expansion of the EFSF is generally being regarded as a given, many traders turned their attention to data from Europe and Asia. China's HSBC Manufacturing PMI contracted for the third consecutive month, although the official PMI won't be released until the weekend. A 3.0% spike in Eurozone CPI dampened expectations for a rate cut by the European Central Bank.

Domestic data featured bland personal income and spending numbers for August, but both the Chicago PMI and final September reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan proved better than expected. Inclined to sell, participants essentially shrugged off those reports.

In the currency market on Friday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, ended higher by 0.5%.

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 bullion metals have registered increase in prices despite strong dollar in recent times and vice versa.

At the MCX, gold prices for December delivery closed higher by Rs 208 (0.8%) at Rs 26,219 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 26,363 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 26,000 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for December delivery closed lower by Rs 134 (0.3%) at Rs 51,111/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 51,875/kg and fell to a low of Rs 50,500/Kg during the day's trading.