Precious metals remain choppy in thin holiday markets

by James Moore The Bullion Desk London, 04 July 2008 - Gold moved in the opposite direction to most peoples expectations yesterday, despite the ECB widening the Eurozone/US rate differential with a 25bp hike while US Non-Farm Payrolls came in well below expectations. Instead traders focused on what was interpreted as more dovish comments from the ECB President, suggesting the bank may not make further rate increases, and that the gap between European and US rates may actually start to narrow in the short-to-medium term. Yet despite the reaction to this the precious metal did show a good degree of resilience as good scaled down buying was seen from those still looking for an anti-inflation hedge, and also safe-haven demand ahead of the long Thanksgiving weekend in the US. As if the underline the inflation concerns NYMEX crude... [read full story]