Gold snaps 7-session rally; WTI slumps 5%, but gains sharply for the week

New York (Mar 27)  Gold futures settled with a loss today, putting an end to a seven-session stretch of gains that had lifted prices to their highest level in more than three weeks.

Prices rallied particularly strongly over the past two trading sessions as declines in global equities and turmoil in Yemen helped buoy safe-haven investment demand for the metal.

Gold for April delivery shed 0.4 percent to settle at $1,199.80 an ounce today on Comex. During their seven-session climb, gold futures tallied a total gain of 4.9 percent. For the week, prices gained 1.3 percent.

In other metals trading, May silver settled down 0.4 percent at $17.069 an ounce, leaving it with a weekly gain of 1.1 percent.

May copper dropped 1.6 percent to $2.7675 a pound — up roughly 0.2 percent for the week. April platinum fell 0.9 percent to $1,143.60 an ounce — 0.2 percent higher from the week-ago settlement. June palladium gave up 4.2 percent to $741 an ounce, losing around 4.9 percent for the week.

In energy trading, oil futures settled lower today for the first time in six sessions but still gained about 5 percent for the week, with strength fuelled in part by an escalating conflict in Yemen.

Meanwhile, data revealed that the number of active oil and natural-gas drilling rigs fell for a 16th week in a row, and that the declines in the rig counts have slowed.

West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May settled at $48.87 a barrel, down 5 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with the front-month contract ending about 4.9 percent higher for the week following a 4.5 percent jump yesterday.

May Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 4.7 percent to $56.41 a barrel, leaving it with a weekly gain of around 2 percent.

Source: ProactiveInvestors