Precious metals fell for the week with silver, gold and platinum plunging 6.3 percent, 2.8 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively. As the U.S. dollar climbed, stocks and crude oil declined. For the week, the Dow lost 2.8 percent and the Nasdaq 4.7 percent.

October oil on Nymex hit a five-month low of $106.23 per barrel, losing $1.66 Friday and a huge 8 percent for the week.

London silver closed to $12.72 an ounce — a loss of 86 cents on the week and $1.04 from last Friday.

London platinum fell to $1,387 an ounce — a drop of $64 for the week and $92 from last Friday.

London gold declined to $809 an ounce, falling $24 for the week and $25 from last Friday.

"Their [investors] flight is no longer one headed towards other assets, warmer climes, or safe havens; it is merely a plain and simple flight - for the “Exit” signs. And, into cash," said senior analyst Jon Nadler at Kitco Bullion Dealers.

"Gold prices behaved quite badly… The rally however, failed at $820 once again and might just be called a key reversal that puts the metal back on track to the test of the $775 support zone. Should that number not hold (and some are not expecting it to) the charts at least, are pointing to the $720-$740 zone as the likely probability," he added.

Gold generally follows oil and moves opposite to the greenback, as a weakened dollar encourages investors to buy gold, also considered a hedge during times of high inflation and economic uncertainty.

Silver, gold and platinum performance charts and tables follow as well as a Reuters weekly business recap video and three related precious metal articles.

Read the rest of this entry »

New York platinum continued its downward spiral Tuesday falling 3.1 percent. Silver and gold, on the other hand, experience gains after oil’s surge and the US dollar’s decline.

After three straight days of losses, September crude-oil gained $1.66 to close at $114.53 a barrel.

Silver for September lost 0.5 cents to end at $13.11 an ounce.

October platinum lost $42.60 to close at $1,351.30 an ounce.

December gold climbed $11.10 to close at $816.80 an ounce. It had reached an earlier low point of $792.

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite a decrease in crude oil prices, New York precious metals surged higher Thursday as US economic news weakened the dollar. Gold recovered most of Wednesday’s losses by rising 1.1 percent rise.

And for the economic news… Real GDP fell 0.2% in the the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with the 0.6% increase previously reported, first-time jobless claims for the week ending July 26 rose 44,000 to 448,000, and real growth accelerated in the second quarter to a 1.9% annual rate, which was lower than forecasts.

Oil lost $3 to close to $124 a barrel.

Silver climbed 32 cents to close to $17.79 an ounce.

Platinum jumped $23.80 to end at $1,761.90 an ounce.

Gold gained $10.40 to finish the day at $922.70 an ounce. Its intraday high was $933.70 an ounce. For the month of July, it lost $11.

Read the rest of this entry »

New York platinum continued its free fall Thursday while gold stopped bleeding to close just slightly lower. Crude-oil gained $1.05 to end at $125.49 a barrel, but a firm US dollar kept gold in check.

Car demand fear was cited for platinum’s loss, as the metal is used in catalytic converters. The metal is near a six month low.

Silver dropped 16 cents to $17.30 an ounce.

Platinum continued its losing streak, falling sharply to $1,713.80 an ounce for a daily drop of $47.

Gold lost just 50 cents, closing to $922.50.

Read the rest of this entry »