Precious Metals Weak In Early Trade

The medium-term paths for both gold and silver are clearly down, said technical analyst Cliff Green of Trend Analysis.

The markets correction upward looks complete and now they are continuing on downward. Palladium, also treading on shaky ground for weeks, eroded further to fix at a 3-1/2 year low. Bullion fixed at $379.60 an ounce, down $1.00 from Thursday, and analysts said it was likely to revisit recent lows around $377.50 an ounce following the brief bounce earlier this month.

However, some dealers said golds $380 level may hold until after the end-of-month expiry of options, which give the right but not the obligation to buy or sell metal at a given price.

 

Gold prices have spiralled lower since hitting a rally high around $418 in February. The market has attracted scant investor or speculative interest to provide upward impetus.

Silver, trading at $4.86/$4.88 an ounce, was six cents down from Thursdays London close. Its nearby target was $4.83.

Analysts said that although New York silver stocks had been falling in recent weeks, giving bullish signals to the market, physical silver stocks in London were very high.

Storage space is at a premium, one analyst said.

In the longer term gold was targetting $375 and then $373 an ounce, while silver was at risk of heading to the $4.60 area