Gold futures wavered in and out of the red in early trading Thursday

Gold futures wavered in and out of the red in early trading Thursday, following steep gains in the previous session as central bankers moved to prop up global liquidity.

Gold for February delivery, the most active contract, declined $3.10, or 0.2%, to $1,746.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Losses were tempered, however, by a lower U.S. dollar.

Most metals followed gold lower, with silver bucking the trend. March silver rose 25 cents, or 0.8%, to $33.05 an ounce. March copper declined 2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.54 a pound.

Gold and most commodities rallied on Wednesday following news central banks around the world, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, had moved to lower the pricing on U.S. dollar liquidity swap arrangements.

On Thursday, however, market sentiment was decidedly more guarded. Helping raw materials, the U.S. dollar slipped compared to major rivals.

A lower dollar helps commodities as it makes them cheaper for holders of other currencies. The dollar index, which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded at 78.251 from 78.345 in North American trade late Wednesday.

In Europe, ECB president Mario Draghi gave a pessimistic view of the economy.

Two gauges of manufacturing activity in China showed cooling, with a state-sponsored purchasing managers’ index falling to 49 in November from 50.4 in the previous month.

A survey by HSBC had the PMI drop to 47.7 in November, from 51 in October. The HSBC survey came in at its weakest since March 2009.

Closer to home, first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to 402,000, a sign the U.S. jobs market is far from healed. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims to total 393,000.  - MarketWatch

Tags: Gold analysis, Gold future prices, Gold futures, Gold investment, Gold news, Gold price, gold price forecast, Gold prices, price of gold, Spot gold, Spot gold price

Posted by admin on Dec 1 2011. Filed under Gold price. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry