Gold prices decline, silver moves higher

Gold prices decline, silver moves higher

New York (Platts)--26Jul2006

Gold prices declined Wednesday morning on the COMEX, as the precious
metals continues to struggle to regain an upward momentum. So far,
each attempt to rebound has faltered due to profit taking.

The nearby August gold futures contract on the COMEX fell $3.50 to
$614.50/oz at 10:14am, after an attempted rally from the opening price of
$616/oz petered out when it reached at $619.80/oz as profit taking ensued.

Silver has been moving mostly sideways, with the September contract
trading at $10.96/oz at 10:16am, a gain of 1.5 cents over Tuesday's
settlement.

The weakness in gold stems partly from the rebound of the dollar to yen
116.72 and $1.2614/euro Tuesday morning.

The PGMs have been struggling also, with the nearby October platinum
contract on the NYMEX gaining $2.50 to reach $1,232/oz and the September
palladium contract falling $4.00 to $313/oz.

--Ovid Abrams; ovid_abrams@platts.com

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