Friday, June 25, 2010

Commodities: Gold enjoys winning session


Date: Friday 25 Jun 2010
Gold closed at its best level this week Thursday as investors favoured its safe haven appeal after US data pointed to a sideways-moving economy.

The August futures contract added $11.10 to $1,245.90 an ounce in New York, the highest closing figure since Friday’s record high at $1,258.30.

Weekly jobless claims dropped to a seasonally adjusted 457,000 from 472,000 the previous week, said the Labor Department's. But that only beat analysts expectations by 3,000, not enough to convince traders the US economy is strengthening sufficiently well.

Meanwhile, orders for durable goods were down by 1.1% in May, but excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose by an as-expected 0.9%, according to the Commerce Department.

There are also nerves ahead of Group of 20 nations meetings this weekend and a lot of uncertainty around a financial-overhaul bill in the US.
Elsewhere, there was good news for copper, with prices up almost 2.5%, while silver added 1.5%.

On the oil exchange, crude for August delivery climbed 21 cents to $76.51 a barrel, thanks largely to a late improvement that stopped a losing streak at two days.

A weak dollar helped oil, but was only good enough to keep it steady rather than precipitate any kind of meaningful rally. 

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