Precious metal prices ended higher on Monday, 28 September, 2009. Prices rose in synchronization with stocks at Wall Street. But dollar's movement kept the gains under control.
Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa.
On Friday, gold for December delivery ended at $994.1, higher by $2.5 (0.25%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier during the day, it rose to a high of $998 and also fell to a low of $986 during intra day trading. Last week, gold ended lower by 1.9%. Year to date, gold prices are higher by 13%.
Gold ended August, 2009 higher by 0.2%. Before this, for the second quarter, gold ended higher by 0.5%. The metal had gained 4.3% in the first quarter of this year.
On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped somewhat (4%) since then.
On Friday, Comex silver futures for December delivery rose 14 cents (0.8%) to $16.2 an ounce.
Silver ended 7.1% higher for August, 2009. For second quarter, silver rose 4.5%. Year to date, silver has climbed 46% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.
In the currency market on Monday, the dollar remained extremely volatile. The dollar index, which measures the strength of dollar against a basket of other currencies, rose by almost 1.5% earlier during the day but then erased most of its gains.
In 2008, gold prices ended higher by 5.5%. The dollar index had gained 12% that year.