Gold News & Info

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Silver prices fell more than 5% Monday after the main U.S. metals futures exchange increased for the second time in a week the amount of cash needed to hold speculative positions in the metal. Gold, which started floor trading in the red after hitting a record intraday high in electronic trading, turned positive as the dollar weakened and settled modestly higher. Silver for July delivery fell $2.52, or 5.2%, to $46.08 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was silver�s largest one-day percentage drop since early January.

Gold for June delivery advanced 70 cents to $1,557.10 an ounce. The metal traded as high as $1,577.40 an ounce earlier, an intraday record. It got support from a weaker dollar, and some modest safe-haven bidding on fears of attacks in retaliation to Osama bin Laden�s death. Silver gathered most of the attention on Monday trading , however, as it plunged as much as 13% to $42.20 an ounce earlier. Monday was the first full session after the increase in margin requirements. Initial margin requirements for silver increased to $14,513 per silver futures contract, from $12,852. Maintenance margins increased to $10,750 from $9,500. See full story.