Gold price drops 1.4% to $1,186 while platinum & palladium each fell 2%

New York (Apr 22)  Gold futures marked their lowest settlements of the month as some upbeat U.S. economic data and strength in the stock market helped to dull the metals’ investment appeal.

Gold for June delivery on Comex fell 1.4 percent to settle at $1,186.90 an ounce.

Data showed that sales of existing U.S. homes rose 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million, which is the fastest pace in 18 months.

In other metals trading, May silver dropped 1.3 percent to $15.796 an ounce.

July platinum fell 2 percent to $1,129.70 an ounce, while June palladium lost 2.4 percent to $755.90 an ounce.

May copper lost 1.4 percent to $2.6655 a pound.

In energy trading, oil futures settled lower after a U.S. government report showed crude supplies rose for a 15th week in a row, but domestic output slipped.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell 0.8 percent to settle at $56.16 a barrel. It was trading at around $56.10 shortly before the supply data and topped $57 immediately after them.

June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange tacked on 1.1 percent to $62.73 a barrel.

Crude inventories rose 5.3 million barrels for the week ended April 17.

Source: ProactiveInvestors