Future Prices Gold Commodity Down Silver Follow Drop

The future price of commodity gold down for the first time in two weeks on sales by investors following the longest rally since August. Silver dropped for the second straight day. Silver futures for May delivery dropped 25.7 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $US32.923 an ounce. Yesterday, the price declined 0.4 per cent. The metal gained 1.9 per cent this week. On Feb. 22, silver reached $US34.315, the highest since March 1980. The commodity has doubled in the past 12 months.

?Gold may still have the potential to advance toward the Dec. 7 high with support coming from growth in investment, geopolitical factors and inflation threats,? Tom Pawlicki, an analyst at MF Global Holdings Ltd. in Chicago, said in a report.

Political turmoil in parts of the Middle East and North Africa drove gold higher in the previous eight sessions. The metal?s 14-day relative-strength index topped 70 in the past two days, a signal that prices were poised to fall. The metal has climbed 5.6 per cent this month after tumbling 6.1 per cent in January.

?Gold had a corrective move, but new buying will come in because the geopolitical instability is far from over,? said Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago. Gold futures for April delivery fell $US6.50, or 0.5 per cent, to settle at $US1,409.30 an ounce on the Comex in New York. This week, the metal advanced 1.5 per cent, the fifth straight gain.

Yesterday, the price reached $US1,418.80, the highest since Jan. 3. On Dec. 7, the metal surged to a record $US1,432.50.