Skip navigation
Newswire

CORRECTED - COMEX gold ends easier after strong U.S. data

In Nov 25 New York story headlined "COMEX gold ends easier after strong U.S. data," please read in paragraph 2 "With first notice day Wednesday,..." instead of "With first notice day Friday,..." (Corrects day).

A corrected repetition follows.

NEW YORK, Nov 25 (Reuters) - COMEX gold ended a tad lower Tuesday on reports showing U.S. economic recovery is solidly entrenched after gyrating on either side of breakeven as December positions were rolled a day before delivery period starts.

With first notice day Wednesday, February gold became the active contract, closing off 30 cents at $392.40 an ounce, trading in a $394.40-$390.50 range. Spot gold was priced at $390.85/1.55, off from the close at $391.10/85. London's afternoon fix was $391.75.

There was some selling on disappointment that gold could not make headway over $400 last week. December $400 call options expired worthless on Monday.

Last week, benchmark December hit a 7-1/2 year high at $400.70, corresponding to $401.80 in February gold. With funds sitting on an enormous net long position, dealers expect liquidation to accelerate should $390.50 be taken out.

That was the session low after the Commerce Department said preliminary third quarter gross domestic product grew at an 8.2 percent annual rate.

It was the biggest jump in GDP since the first quarter of 1984, improving upon the 7.2 percent expansion rate in last month's advance estimate and the second quarter's 3.3 percent pace.

The U.S. Conference Board later said its index of consumer confidence climbed to 91.7 in November, the highest level since September 2002, from October's 81.7.

"I know there was size (being traded) early when we got the GDP number and it dumped down. When stock futures and the dollar didn't really hold gains and reversed, there was a good amount of covering," said James Pogoda, a vice president of precious metals at Mitsubishi International.

The exchange posted volume of 185,000 contracts. Even with 25,182 switches, traders said the estimate seemed high relative to the floor business they observed.

Each switch involves the sale of the front contract and simultaneous purchase of the deferred.

The dollar actually fell back because dealers had already bought ahead of the number, preventing gold from falling too far. The euro rose to $1.1796/02 from $1.1765/71 late Monday, supporting gold by making it cheaper to buy in Europe.

The market was still waiting for a batch of data Wednesday, including October durable goods orders as well as personal income and spending.

"We still have some numbers tomorrow, so we'll see how things go," Pogoda said. "We've been through enough of these pre-holiday days where almost anything can happen."

March silver rose 5.5 cents to $5.325, trading from $5.215 to $5.365, having taken the front position from December.

"Silver, with its industrial base, saw the most benefit from today's US data," wrote analyst James Moore at TheBullionDesk.com.

Estimated silver volume was 65,000 lots with 14,576 switches.

Spot silver was quoted at $5.29/31, up from $5.23/25. It fixed at $5.21.

At the NYMEX, January platinum rose $1.80 to $757.70 an ounce. Spot platinum fetched $755.00/760.00.

March palladium fell $2.80 to $191.15 an ounce. Spot was at $187.50/193.50.