Gold ends lower, still flirting with $1,200 level

San Francisco (Nov 26)  Gold prices edged down Wednesday in muted, pre-Thanksgiving trade, catching their breath after a solid advance so far this month.

December gold GCZ4, -0.01% finished down 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, at $1,196.60 an ounce, continuing to hold below the key $1,200 level. It’s up 2.1% in the month to date, having dipped just 0.1% so far in this holiday-shortened week. Meanwhile, December silver SIZ4, -0.38%  settled unchanged at $16.55 an ounce.

U.S. economic reports on Wednesday mostly came in worse than expected, but didn’t spark a great deal of haven demand for the yellow metal. Weekly jobless claims jumped to 313,000 versus forecasts for only 288,000, a reading on Chicago-area business conditions also missed estimates and new-home sales increased slightly less than expected.

One headline figure that came in stronger than anticipated was for durable-goods orders, and while the final reading for a consumer-sentiment index missed expectations, it still represents the highest reading since July 2007.

Investors also are waiting for Switzerland’s weekend referendum on boosting its gold reserves, though voters aren’t expected to favor such a move.

The referendum is not likely to pass, and that could weigh on gold in the short term, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, in a note Wednesday. But he argued that the outlook for gold is nonetheless improving, helped by central-bank news from China and Europe.

On Tuesday, gold briefly pushed above the $1,200 mark but lost its footing to settle only slightly higher. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In other metals trading on Wednesday, January platinum PLF5, +0.34%  settled higher by $3.90, or 0.3%, at $1,228.40 an ounce, while December palladium PAZ4, +0.89%  finished up by $6, or nearly 0.8%, at $801.60 an ounce. High-grade copper for December delivery HGZ4, +0.19%  settled unchanged at $2.96 a pound.

Source: MarketWatch