Gold and silver prices slip back and take the shine off FTSE 100

London (Oct 11)  Precious metal miners are losing their lustre, helping undermine the market’s attempts to reach new record highs.

The FTSE 100, having reached an intraday record of 7129.83, is now down around 8 points at 7089. An opening fall on Wall Street has not helped, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average now down 94 points or 0.5%.

But one of the main factors for the decline is a fall in gold and silver as the dollar continues to climb on the basis that US interest rates will soon be increased.

So Mexican miner Fresnillo has fallen 41p to £16.44, Randgold Resources is down 165p to £69 and, in the mid-cap index, the top three losers are Hochschild, 14.4p lower at 252.8p, Egyptian gold miner Centamin, down 7.6p at 147.8p and Africa’s Acacia Mining, off 14.1p at 461.8p.

Meanwhile the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 remains Old Mutual, down 11.5p at 197.8p on disappointment with its presentation to City investors, as well as a fall in the rand after South Africa’s finance minister was ordered to appear in court next month.

Source: TheGuardian