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  • Feb 19th, 2005
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US gold futures probed near a three-week high and silver reached a fresh two-month peak on Friday, before an early close, as a mainly softer dollar drew investors into the precious metals, dealers said. Gold for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division rose 50 cents to $429.10 an ounce by 10:24 am (1524 GMT), chopping around in a range from $427 to $429.20. The session peak fell short of Thursday's mark of $429.80, which was gold's loftiest level since January 27.

New York metals trading was to close near noon and the market will remain shut on Monday for the US holiday of Presidents Day.

With markets thin due to the holiday, currencies seemed to have a case of the spins after a mixed bag of US reports on producer prices and consumer sentiment. "Gold's reacting to the euro's ups and downs. Trading is pretty thin. But the funds have been buying gold all week, so that may give it some support, especially if the dollar is a little weaker" said Andy Brosoff at Mitsubishi International Corp.

Gold traders pegged stiff resistance at $430 an ounce, with support pegged at about $424.

Spot gold was priced at $426.95/7.70 an ounce, above Thursday's New York close at $427.10/7.80. Friday's early fix in London was at $426.55.

Silver reached its highest mark since early December, boosted by local short covering after fund buying earlier in the week.

March silver rose 6.5 cents to $7.435 an ounce, trading from $7.32 and $7.45 - the gray metal's priciest level since December 8.

"Locals were caught short and the trade came in to buy once the euro started coming back," said a COMEX floor trader.

He pegged next resistance at $7.48 to $7.50.

Spot silver climbed to $7.40/43, up from the prior close at $7.32/35. The fix was at $7.32.

April platinum rose $2.30 to $865.50 an ounce. Spot was at $863/868. March palladium climbed 60 cents to $183.60 an ounce. Spot held at $179/183.

Copyright Reuters, 2005


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