22/06/07: Gold steadies after Thursday fall
Gold remained steady on Friday (June 22), following a decline on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Spot gold was at $651.10 an ounce, following a Thursday intraday low of $647.50 an ounce, when a firmer dollar made the precious metal a less appealing hedge.
However, some commentators believe that the yellow metal will be buoyant moving forwards.
Yukuji Sonoda of Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo said: "Some private investors and jewelry makers will enter the market at this level. $650 is the bottom price."
Meanwhile April 2008 gold futures on the Tocom stock exchange hit a low of 2,617 yen per gram. Tocom said it was set to launch gold mini-futures trading on July 9th in order to boost liquidity by lowering the size of contracts to 100 grams.
Analyst Tatsuo Kageyama of Kanetsu Asset Management sounded a downbeat note for gold.
"Domestic prices are being supported by the yen's weakness, but generally gold is under strong downward pressure due to a rise in US Treasury yields and the strength of the dollar," he said.