Bullion metals register moderate gains

Gold recovers from fiver and half year lows

Bullion prices posted moderate gains on Monday, 30 November 2015 after gold prices last Friday set a 5.5-year low. There were no major, fresh, markets-moving geopolitical developments for the marketplace to focus upon Monday, which is the last trading day of the month. The start of the Christmas shopping season is getting attention, as Black Friday is being followed by Cyber Monday today.

February Comex gold ended up $9.00 at $1,065.30 an ounce. March Comex silver ended up $0.032 at $14.08 an ounce.

The International Monetary Fund added the Chinese yuan to its basket of official IMF reserve currencies in its latest move. The move was expected and did not move the markets. However, it's just one more development that shows the growing influence and power of China on the world stage.

As the calendar turns to December traders and investors will again start buzzing about the mid-month FOMC meeting, at which time most traders believe the Federal Reserve will make its first interest rate increase in nine years.

A report overnight said the raw commodity sector had one of its worst months in around 45 years in November, when examining the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI). A major bearish element for the raw commodity sector in recent weeks has been a resurgent U.S. dollar index, which hit a seven-month high on Monday.

On tap later this week is an OPEC oil cartel meeting and the regular meeting of the European Central Bank. The important U.S. jobs report is due out Friday.

Economic data at Wall Street on Monday included Chicago PMI and Pending Home Sales. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for November dipped to 48.7 from 56.2 in October while the consensus expected a reading of 55.0. New orders were largely responsible for the pullback as the related index fell to 44.1, its lowest level since March, from 59.4 in October. Other components saw little change with Employment and Supplier Deliveries holding above 50 while Order Backlogs have remained below 50 for the tenth consecutive month, which represents ongoing contraction. Pending home sales for October rose 0.2% while the consensus expected an increase of 0.7%.

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