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Gold eases further, touches 3-day low

By Myra P. Saefong, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:08 PM ET Feb. 6, 2003







NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Gold futures prices eased further Thursday, briefly falling below at $371 an ounce a day after Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N. Security Council on Iraq.



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Gold for April delivery fell by $5.40 to $371.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The session has so far seen a low of $370.50.

Powell's report Wednesday "made sense, was clear and compelling, yet it is unclear anything really changed," said Grady Garrett, chief trading strategist at EnergyTrendAlert.com. See related story.

For now, France, Germany and Iraq continue to want more time for inspectors, but the U.S. wants quick action, he said, so "I think the bulls are nervous that they have bid gold up too high ahead of a possible [military] strike," said Garrett.

Yet, he said, "the uptrend is still intact."

John L. Person, a financial analyst at Infinity Brokerage Services, agreed that Powell presented good evidence that Iraq harbors weapons of mass destruction, but it's "nothing extraordinary to convince China, France and Russia that we should take immediate military action."

"This signals that this event will drag out longer," he said. "The uncertainty of who, what and when we are going to war will be the supportive factor for gold prices."

Explaining further, he said "the sense from investors is that it is plaguing the economy and this in turn is a negative for investors' confidence -- this makes gold an even better opportunity as an investment play."

Investors will continue to monitor the movements of the U.S. dollar and stock market.

In recent action, the stock market traded mostly lower on the back of lackluster productivity data. See Market Snapshot.

The dollar was also weaker. The euro last traded at $1.0827, up 0.4 percent, while the greenback fell 0.1 percent to 119.88 yen. A weaker dollar makes gold less expensive for foreign traders to buy since they have to swap out of their local currencies. Gold is denominated in U.S. dollars.

In other metals trading, March silver fell by 8.8 cents to $4.68 an ounce. April platinum shed $6.40 to $668 an ounce and palladium for March delivery fell by $12.50 to $252 an ounce. March copper gave up 1.2 cents to 76.7 cents a pound and March aluminum eased back by 0.5 cent to 66.85 cents a pound.

Meanwhile, Nymex gold inventories stood at 2.15 million troy ounces late Wednesday, unchanged from the previous session. Silver inventories were down 609,513 troy ounces to 107.5 million, while copper stocks fell 1,456 short tons to 392,527 short tons.

Metals mining stocks turn lower

Most metals mining stocks reversed course by Thursday afternoon to trade lower, in tune with the losses in gold. Major metals indexes dropped more than 4 percent Wednesday.

The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index ($XAU: news, chart, profile) fell 1.3 percent to 75.21 and the CBOE Gold Index ($GOX: news, chart, profile) shed 1.7 percent to 62.7. The Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI: news, chart, profile) slipped by 2.2 percent to 140.71.

Among index components, Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI: news, chart, profile) declined by 4 cents to $12.86, Newmont Mining (NEM: news, chart, profile) fell 39 cents to $28.33 and Placer Dome (PDG: news, chart, profile) eased back by 21 cents to $11.09.

Shares of Harmony Gold Mining (HMY: news, chart, profile) were among the few gainers. The stock added 12 cents to $15.30.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX: news, chart, profile), however, fell back by $1.07, or 5.9 percent, to $17.09. It announced Thursday that when it completes its $500 million convertible senior notes offering and the planned termination of its bank credit facilities, it will have a new cash dividend policy for its common stock.

The policy provides for an annual dividend of 36 cents per share and will be payable quarterly at 9 cents per quarter, with the initial quarterly dividend expected to be paid on May 1.