Precious metals prices in plunge in New York on fund selloff

New York (Platts)--19May2006

Fund managers and other big speculators were in a selling mood on the New
York futures exchanges Friday morning, dumping long positions in precious
metals as though they were in a hurry to lighten up their positions. As
a result, the entire precious metals complex was heading south.

The nearby June gold futures contract on the COMEX plunged $27.40 to
$653.50/oz at 10:53 am EDT (1453 GMT) and the nearby July silver contact fell
37cts to $12.15/oz.

A similar situation was been unfolding on the nearby NYMEX trading
pits, where the nearby July platinum contact fell $11.80 to $1,286/oz when it
last traded at 10:48 am EDT and the nearby June palladium plummeted $35.50 to
$337/oz.

Palladium has been facing the brunt of the selloff due to its relatively
weak fundamentals and the extent of speculative interest in this market,
according to market analysts. Prior to the selloff, palladium had rallied
largely because of the strength in platinum and the notion held by some
traders that a certain price ratio should be maintained between the two
PGMs.

For similar news, take a trial to Platts Metals Week at
http://plattsmetals.platts.com.


 

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