Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading down slightly on Friday (Saturday morning GMT ) , because the U.S. dollar strengthened .
Because the U.S. dollar strengthened against most major world currencies amid selloff in the stock market , the most active gold contract for June delivery dipped 1.5 dollars, or 0.11 percent to close at 1,319 dollars per ounce , Xinhua reported .
However , gold prices scored a gain of about 1.2 per cent for over a week until Friday .
Positive economic data released on Friday also weaken gold . The size of the overall consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters preliminary reading rose to 82.6 in April , the highest since July .
The U.S. Labor Department said that the U.S. producer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent after falling slightly in February , the biggest gain since June.
Gold has swung sharply so far this year . Gold has risen by nearly 200 U.S. dollars per ounce from January to mid-March before handing over half of the growth in the last two weeks .
With the background of bond yields higher , stronger dollar and low inflation , gold prospects remain fundamentally negative . But some analysts think the gold market is approaching the " undervalued " (below value ) .
Silver for May delivery fell 14.5 cents, or 0.72 per cent to close at 19.946 dollars per ounce . Platinum for July delivery rose 2.5 dollars, or 0.17 percent, to end at 1462.6 dollars per ounce .
U.S. crude oil prices closed higher on Friday (Saturday morning GMT ) , lifted by market expectations for stronger demand in the United States ahead of the summer driving season .
But traders continued concern about the situation in Libya , where the government deal with the rebels to lift their blockade of the oil terminals will allow the Libyan oil back to market , AFP reported .
The main contract , light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at 103.74 dollars per barrel , up 34 cents from Thursday .
Meanwhile, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May fell 13 cents to settle at 107.33 dollars a barrel in London trade .
Several factors make the market " bullish " about the prospect of higher U.S. crude demand in the weeks and months to come , said independent analyst Andy Lipow .
The demand seems to increase as gasoline stocks have fallen sharply in recent weeks , making tighter supplies shortly before Americans flocked to the streets in the warmer weather .
Because the refinery maintenance season distillery has ended , the utilization rate is definitely increased " when demand for gasoline rose in the summer , supporting prices , " said Lipow .
Adding U.S. market increasingly positive sentiment was better than expected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in April reported by the University of Michigan . The belief reaches nine-month high in the world's biggest consumer of crude oil it .
" The report is relatively good employment and an increase in revenue helped drive higher consumer mood . However , prices ( gasoline ) at the pump has crept up and lowering food inflation is greater than many households are living paycheck to paycheck , " said Chris Christopher at IHS Global Insight .
Analysts are waiting to see whether the Libyan oil terminals will reopen as an agreement by the government and rebels .
" Traders were skeptical because we have seen a series of announcements . Traders will wait until we see these ports reopened and resumed exports , " said Lipow .
Four oil terminals in eastern Libya that rebels confiscated in July last year in their efforts to demand the return of autonomy to the eastern Cyrenaica region , has cut production of 1.5 million barrels per day to just 250,000 barrels per day .
OPEC Secretary General Abdullah el - Badri projecting that Libyan oil exports will be increased four-fold from current levels and reached 1.0 million barrels per day in mid-June after rebels ended the blockade of the two terminals .
Blockade on two other terminals remain to be done while waiting for a new deal .
Tech-rich Nasdaq pushing Wall Street sharply lower again on Friday (Saturday morning GMT ) , closes dismal week at its lowest level in more than two months .
The Nasdaq slumped 54.37 points ( 1.34 percent) to 3999.73 , its lowest close since Feb. 3 , when the index settled for one session under the psychologically important 4,000 level .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 143.47 points ( 0.89 percent) to 16,026.75 , while the broad -based index of the S & P 500 fell 17.39 points ( 0.95 percent) to 1815.69 .
U.S. equity markets were in the red on the large partially , but deepening losses in the last 90 minutes of trading.
Shares of technology and biotechnology " push overall correction in the market , " said Alan Skrainka , chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management .
" And how far to walk , and how fast , no one can know . "
Leading technology stocks continued to slump , including Apple fell 0.7 percent , down 1.7 percent Amazon , Facebook fell 1.1 percent , down 1.8 percent Priceline and Twitter down 3.1 percent .
Some well-known biotech stocks that hit harder, feeling more pain , including Biogen fell 4.7 percent and Celgene dropped 2.2 percent . Gilead Sciences Tetaapi increased 0.8 percent .
U.S. banking giant JPMorgan Chase led the Dow lower , falling 3.7 percent after its profit of 5.3 billion dollars failed to meet analysts' forecasts . The company reported a 19 percent drop in earnings due to weakness in the mortgage business and trade .
Wells Fargo , another large bank , rose 0.8 percent as profit of 1.05 dollars per share , beating analysts' estimates by eight cents .
General Motors is going through another whipping , down 4.1 percent for the U.S. congressional committee released a document that raises more questions about the handling of the car manufacturers recall vehicles in large numbers .
A report that Herbalife is facing a criminal investigation by the FBI and Justice Department sent its shares 14 percent lower . Herbalife said he had no knowledge of the investigation.
Gap fell 2.3 percent due to a decrease in sales of its stores six percent for March . Other retailers are also having a bad day , including JC Penney fell 9.6 percent , Macy slumped 2.0 percent and Target fell 1.3 percent .
Bond prices rose . Imbah yield on the 10 - year U.S. government fell to 2.62 percent from 2.65 percent on Thursday , while the 30 - year fell to 3.48 percent from
3.52 percent . Prices and bond yields move in opposite directions .
No comments:
Post a Comment