Gold steadies, copper tumbles

LONDON: Gold steadied on Monday as a rally to record highs ran out of steam. Spot gold traded at $1,230.25 at 1452 GMT versus $1,230.05 late in New York on Friday, having earlier hit a day high of $1,242.10, just shy of Friday’s all time high of $1,248.95. US gold futures rose $7 to $1,234.40 an ounce. Gold priced in euros and sterling struck a record high overnight as did gold futures in Shanghai. Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, rose to a lifetime high of 1,214.065 tonnes as investors sought a safe haven from volatile currencies and declines in stock markets. In other precious metals, silver was down at $19.15 an ounce versus $19.25, platinum fell to $1,686 versus $1,715.50 while palladium dropped to $511.55 versus $523.50.

Copper tumbles: Copper tumbled on Monday to its lowest since early May. Stainless steel ingredient nickel slid five percent to a one-week trough of $20,460 a tonne, aluminium ceded 4 percent to $2,015, its lowest since Feb 9 and zinc fell nearly five percent to $1,955, its lowest since Feb 5. Battery material lead surrendered five percent, hitting a nine-month low of $1,845 a tonne. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at $6,715 a tonne at 1417 GMT from $6,925 at the close on Friday. Traders say if copper prices fall below support at $6,600 a tonne then the next target is the February low below $6,300. Before then, copper support is seen at $6,632, the May low. Aluminium, used in transport and packaging, traded at $2,032 a tonne from $2,101 on Friday, zinc was at $1,985 from $2,055, lead was at $1,880.25 from $1,940, tin was at $17,600 from $17,550 and nickel traded at $20,998 from $21,555.