Mixed finish for bullions

Gold prices rise for first time in seven sessions

Bullion metal prices ended mixed on Wednesday, 07 2013 at Comex. Gold prices rose for first time in seven sessions while silver ended marginally lower.

Gold for December delivery ended higher by $2.8 (0.2%) at $1,285.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.

September silver ended lower by $0.01 (1%) at $19.51 an ounce on Wednesday.

The gold market had been under moderate selling pressure for most of the day on Wednesday, when just before midday prices pushed above unchanged at the same time the U.S. dollar index hit its daily low and scored a fresh six-week low.

The gold and silver markets early on saw some residual selling pressure after some more “Fed speak” on Monday, in which two Federal Reserve officials made comments that the market place perceived as slightly favoring the hawkish side of U.S. monetary policy. The market place remains preoccupied with the timing of just when the U.S. central bank will begin to “taper” its monthly bond-buying program, also known as quantitative easing.

It remains a quieter, summertime trading atmosphere in many markets, including gold and silver. Such could continue to be the case until after the U.S. Labor Day holiday in early September.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.5% on Wednesday.

Among economic data expected at Wall Street today, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index ticked up 0.2% to follow seven consecutive contractionary readings, including last week's decline of 3.7%.

Separately, June consumer credit increased by $13.8 billion, which follows the prior month's increase of $17.5 billion, and is higher than the $16.0 billion that had been expected.

At the MCX, gold prices for October delivery closed higher by Rs 63 (0.22%) at Rs 27,677 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 27,718 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 27,342 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for September delivery closed lower by Rs 16 (0.03%) at Rs 41,517/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 41,400/Kg and fell to a low of Rs 40,765/Kg during the day's trading.