Gold News & Info

Source: Marketwatch.com

San Francisco— Gold futures closed unchanged Wednesday, rebounding from earlier weakness sparked by U.S. economic data that renewed concerns about inflation.

It marked the second session in a row in which gold prices were unmoved.

Gold prices found support following the release of the Institute for Supply Management's September nonmanufacturing figures, which revealed a decline to 53.3% from 65% in August — the sharpest one-month decline on record.

But within the index, the prices paid barometer jumped to a record level, with 58% of firms reporting that they paid higher prices last month.

Charles Nedoss, an analyst at Peak Trading Group, said that the number was "very inflationary" and that "the gold market is trading [on] the perception of inflation."

Gold for December delivery closed at $469.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, well above the one-week low of $465.90 that the contract traded at earlier.

Gold remains vulnerable in the short term to a correction because of "the scale of speculative longs" and recent gains by the dollar as well as profit taking in oil, said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.

"Any dips, however, will remain well supported by physical sources as the metal enters its peak demand period," while prospects for further mid- to long-term gains are strong, he said in a note to clients.

Elsewhere in the metals complex, copper set another record. The December contract rose another 2.05 cents to end at $1.7865 a pound amid ongoing expectations of higher demand for the industrial metal.

Meanwhile, December silver closed higher, up 5.3 cents at $7.478 an ounce. December palladium fell 70 cents to end at $195.40 an ounce, while January platinum climbed $3.50, closing at $922 an ounce.

Tracking inventories, copper supplies were down 458 short tons at 6,661 short tons as of late Tuesday, according to Nymex. Silver stocks were up 600,812 troy ounces at 117.3 million troy ounces, while gold inventories stood at 6.14 million troy ounces, down 600,811 troy ounces from the previous session.