Gold, silver prices decline

Gold, silver prices decline

	Published : Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:07 By : Agencies Print this Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Gold prices declined for the second straight session Thursday as the dollar strengthened and bond yields extended their rise.

Other commodity prices were mixed; industrial metals, corn and soybeans retreated, while gasoline and wheat advanced.

In recent weeks, gold and silver prices have been following Treasury bond yields; higher bond yields dampen gold prices because both are regarded safe investments. The dollar, which rose Thursday against the euro, British pound and yen, is considered another safe investment.

'Precious metals are watching the higher dollar and slightly higher Treasury yields,' said Tom Pawlicki, an analyst at Man Financial Global Research in Chicago.

Though labor unrest among oil and industrial metals producers has been felt in those particular markets recently, the precious metals market appears to be shrugging off possible strikes at South African platinum and gold mines.

'The mining industry in any metal is not like turning on and off a garden hose. If mine production shuts down for one to two weeks, it will take at least two weeks to get supplies and equipment back running at 100 percent, so even a brief respite in the pits can potentially have a much longer term affect on the supplies coming out of the country,' wrote Neal Ryan, director of economic research at gold dealer Blanchard & Co.

Gold for August delivery fell $5.40 to $654.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The 10-year Treasury note's yield rose to 5.16 percent from 5.15 percent late Wednesday.

July silver fell 14.0 cents to $13.110 an ounce, while July platinum fell $4.80 to $1,296.00 an ounce.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index rose moderately in choppy trading.

Energy prices fell but then rebounded on the Nymex, wavering due to uncertainty over a general strike in Nigeria, Africa's largest crude oil producer.

Light, sweet crude was flat at $68.86 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after declining earlier in the session. July gasoline futures rose 2.39 cents to $2.2520 a gallon.

Overseas, most industrial metals fell.

Copper slipped 1 percent on the London Metal Exchange, as traders digested a reported increase in copper supply but cautiously awaited the results of strike threats at Latin American copper mines.

Zinc fell 2 percent on the LME, aluminum dipped nearly 1 percent, and lead eased back from hitting a new record high a day earlier.

On the Nymex, July copper futures 4.1 cents to $3.4065 a pound.

Grain prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

July wheat futures rose a penny to $6.06 a bushel on the CBOT, with traders still unnerved about heavy rains that have damaged the U.S. wheat crop. July corn fell 9.25 cents to $3.85 a bushel, while July soybeans fell 19.5 cents to $8.1950 a bushel.