Gold weighed down by dollar

Gold weighed down by dollar

Gold and silver prices slipped Thursday, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar.

August gold lost $5.60 to $585.40 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July silver fell 21 cents to $10.21 an ounce.

“It started weaker due to the higher dollar,” said Mike Zarembski, futures analyst with XpressTrade. The dollar was strong all day, with the euro trading around $1.2570 as gold was closing, down from $1.2659 late Wednesday.

Dan Vaught, futures analyst with A.G. Edwards, blamed most of the metals’ losses on the dollar gains. However, he added, gold also may have encountered some resistance around the key $600 psychological area, as it peaked overnight at $598.30 an ounce and then backed down.

“We may also have suffered a bit from a relatively poor performance by the mining equities,” Vaught added. “But it’s hard to deny the bearish influence of the dollar surge today.

July platinum lost $17.80 to $1,176.10 an ounce.

September palladium fell 60 cents to $313.90 an ounce.

Copper was unable to hold onto gains after reaching its highest level in a week. The benchmark September contract settled 6.15 cents lower at $3.0485 per pound. During the day session the contract got as high as $3.19 per pound on the heels of a firmer London market but soon profit-taking moved in to cap the highs.

Crude oil futures rallied again and briefly rose above $71 after refinery disruptions in Louisiana fueled already surging gasoline futures. The August crude futures contract ended 51 cents higher to close at $70.84 a barrel after rising as high as $71.20 a barrel.

July gasoline futures rose 5.2 cents to $2.1180 a gallon.

July heating oil finished at $1.9718 a gallon, up 3.47 cents.

July natural gas fell 14.9 cents to settle at $6.439 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, Arabica coffee futures ended higher. July rose 0.6 cent to 95.7 cents a pound.

The most active September cocoa contract settled down $3 at $1,535 per metric ton.

Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for July settled up 0.01 cent at 15.75 cents a pound.

On the Chicago Board of Trade, corn futures finished lower, undermined by continued good growing weather in much of the U.S. Midwest. July corn declined 2.25 cents to $2.3050 per bushel.

July soybeans ended 3.25 cents lower at $5.83.

September wheat ended down 7 cents at $3.8225 a bushel.

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