US gold ends up on dollar drop, near 5-week high

NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures hit a
five-week high on Monday, ending up more than 1 percent on
dollar weakness as traders bet on U.S. interest rates staying
low in the immediate future.

For the latest detailed report, click on [GOL/].

GOLD

* Gold for February delivery settles up $12.50, or
1.1 percent, at $1,151.40 an ounce on the COMEX division of the
New York Mercantile Exchange.

* Range from $1,139 to $1,163 -- a five-week high.

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SILVER

* March silver ends up 22.5 cents, or 1.2 percent,
at $18.695 an ounce, tagging gold's gains.

* Range from $18.495 to $18.925 -- a five-week high.

* COMEX estimated final volume at 28,900 lots.

* Spot silver at $18.53 an ounce, versus the
previous session's late quote at $18.44 an ounce.

* London silver fix at $18.84.

PLATINUM

* NYMEX April platinum finishes up $21.90, or 1.4
percent, at $1,592.50 an ounce on strong investor demand due to
Friday's launch of exchange-traded funds.

* ETF Securities Ltd's first U.S. platinum and palladium
ETFs started trading on Friday with strong volume.

* Spot platinum was at $1,592.50 an ounce.

PALLADIUM

* March palladium closes up $6.80, or 1.6 percent,
at $431.95 an ounce on investment demand.

* Spot palladium was at $430.50 an ounce.
(Reporting by Frank Tang; Editing by David Gregorio)

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Copper wobbles as dollar rises


LONDON - Industrial metals slipped on Tuesday on the back of a stronger U.S. dollar, and selling pressure due to index rebalancing, while bearish results from major aluminum producer Alcoa dampened market sentiment.

Tin was the only metal that bucked the trend, rising 2.5 per cent to hit its highest since September 2008, as the fundamentals for the metal have improved after recent upbeat data and tighter exports from the top producer Indonesia.

Benchmark
copper


for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange edged down to $7,555 (U.S.) a tonne by 1100 GMT, from Monday's $7,567.5 a tonne. The metal, used extensively in construction, touched a 17-month high last week.

The U.S. dollar was flat a basket of currencies, holding on gains made after an official from a Chinese sovereign wealth fund said he did not think the U.S. currency would depreciate more.

"One reason why metals are falling is the dollar," said metals analyst Daniel Brebner at Deutsche Bank. "Also Alcoa numbers that came after the market's close yesterday were pretty weak and are dampening the market," he said.

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Nickel was at $17,997 a tonne from Monday's $17,890 a tonne while lead was at $2,500 a tonne from $2,532 a tonne.

Tin rallied as high as $18,350 a tonne, before easing to $18,275 a tonne versus $17,890 a tonne.

LME zinc inventories fell by over 2,000 tonnes, but a 30 per cent rise in Shanghai zinc stocks offset any potential boost to the zinc price which was at $2,543 a tonne versus $2,573 the day before.

Aluminum inventories also fell by 3,675 tonnes, but prices were down at $2,321 a tonne from Monday's $2,330 a tonne. Traders said worries about power shortages in China and upbeat assessments on demand from UC Rusal could help ward off a larger decline.

Around 70 per cent of the total 4.6 million tonnes of aluminum stocks in LME warehouses are said to be tied up in financing deals. Aluminum cancelled warrants - material earmarked for delivery - stood at 244,700 tonnes, equivalent to the 18 per cent of the remaining 30 per cent.

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Copper,Nickel,Zinc,Aluminum.Lead

http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/

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Gold & PGM Prices

Jan 12 2010 8:05AM NY Time dd Change Gold 1148.20 -0.22% Platinum 1604.00 +1.07% Palladium 433.00 +0.46% Rhodium 2600.00 +0.00%