Gold seesawed between small gains and losses Friday, while silver futures turned positive, as both metals lacked catalysts to take prices substantially higher.
Gold for June delivery lost $2.30, or 0.2%, to $1,504.10 U.S. an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold has gained 0.8% so far this week.
Silver for July delivery added 35 cents, or 0.9%, to $35.09 U.S. an ounce. Silver has lost 0.6% on the week.
With the lack of headlines pushing metals one way or the other, and in light of last week’s rout, metals are likely to spend some time in consolidation mode, some experts said.
Prices have come off sharply since silver hit nearly $50 an ounce last month, but the pace of the retreat has eased over the past two days.
One expert sees support for silver at $32 U.S. an ounce, citing growth last year in global demand for silver for industrial applications and jewelry.
The U.S. dollar’s decline in recent months has drawn investors to precious metals as a hedge against currency weakness, but the greenback has improved in recent days and Friday was no exception.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six major rivals, rose to 75.451 from 75.199 in North American trading late Thursday.
Dollar-denominated commodities often inversely track the dollar as a rising U.S. unit makes them more expensive to holders of other currencies, diminishing their appeal.
The broader metals complex was higher, with copper for July delivery gaining nine cents, or 0.2%, to $3.98 U.S. a pound.
Platinum for July delivery was flat at $1,771 U.S. an ounce, while the June contract for sister-metal palladium lost 25 cents to $716.60 U.S. an ounce.
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