PRECIOUS-Gold steady; safe-haven status intact after bin Laden death

Tue May 3, 2011 2:08am BST 

 SINGAPORE, May 3 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on
Tuesday, as investors see little change in the metal's
safe-haven appeal after al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was
killed on Monday.	
     	

 FUNDAMENTALS	
 * Spot gold was little changed at $1,544.86 an ounce
by 0046 GMT, after trading in a range between $1,540.39 and the
record high of $1,579.75 on Monday.	
 * U.S. gold futures GCcv1 declined 0.8 percent to
$1,545.10, up from an intraday low of $1,516.20.	
 * Gold traded mixed on Monday after the news that Osama bin
Laden was killed in a U.S.-led action. The fall in risk premium
for commodity markets will be short lived, with gold and oil in
focus on new concerns that al Qaeda may seek retribution.
[ID:nL3E7G20RU]	
 * The CME Group Inc raised COMEX 5000 Silver <0#SI:>
maintenance margins for speculators by 11.6 percent to $12,000
per contract from $10,750 effective Tuesday, May 3. This is the
third time that the exchange raised margin since last Monday.
[ID:nL3E7G22TT]	
 * Spot silver lost 8.5 percent on Monday, its biggest
daily loss since December 2008. It edged up 0.4 percent to
$44.07. COMEX silver SIcv1 stood at $44.59.	
 	

 MARKET NEWS	
 * The dollar struggled to pull away from a three-year trough
early in Asia on Tuesday, with higher-yielding currencies like
the Australian dollar still in favour even as markets become
more concerned over stretched positions. 	
 * U.S. crude futures extended losses from the previous
session. 	
  	

 DATA/EVENTS	
 0500  India     HSBC Markit Mfg PMI        Apr 2011  
 0743  Italy     Markit/ADACI Mfg PMI       Apr 2011 
 0753  Germany   Markit/BME Mfg PMI         Apr 2011 
 0758  EZ        Markit Mfg PMI             Apr 2011  
 1400  U.S.      ISM Manufacturing PMI      Apr       
 1400  U.S.      Construction spending      Mar      
 	
 PRICES	
 Precious metals prices 0046 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1544.86    0.56   +0.04      8.84
  Spot Silver        44.07    0.18   +0.41     42.81
  Spot Platinum    1858.00    3.75   +0.20      5.12
  Spot Palladium    767.50   -1.95   -0.25     -4.00
  TOCOM Gold       4072.00  -15.00   -0.37      9.20        22271
  TOCOM Platinum   4904.00   41.00   +0.84      4.43         3055
  TOCOM Silver      118.70    1.30   +1.11     46.54         1953
  TOCOM Palladium  2030.00  -17.00   -0.83     -3.20          197
  COMEX GOLD JUN1  1545.10  -12.00   -0.77      8.70        12077
  COMEX SILVER JUL1  44.59   -1.49   -3.24     44.12         4039
  Euro/Dollar       1.4788
  Dollar/Yen         81.05
  TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
	
	
 (Editing by Michael Urquhart)
Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.