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Diamond and Precious Metals Week In Review: 9/30/05
This week saw strong trading activity at the Hong Kong show with good overall demand for diamonds especially larger stones. Excellent makes and over-sizes brought premium prices. Trade is concerned about levels of sales for this upcoming Holiday Season as consumer confidence falls amid rising oil prices.
Gold hit a high of $473.50 in trading yesterday with Platinum rising to $929 and Silver making a big jump to $7.51.
Analysts expect some short-term volatility in the Precious Metals but over the next few months expect Gold to rise to the $500.00 area.
Some dealers said gold was prone to profit-taking but would find support at around $470 an ounce, thanks to firm Tokyo gold futures and physical demand at lower levels.
"Where do we go from here, is a big question. I still don't, at this present moment, see a reason to be selling gold. I wouldn't be surprised if we went towards $475 during next week," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at N M Rothschild.
Dealers said gold was likely to watch the dollar and crude oil for direction. The euro was higher than New York levels at $1.2044.
The market awaits the payrolls report for September due next week, and Thursday's report showing that U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected suggested the data would be stronger than forecasts.
