SILVER RISE ENDS FIVE-DAY ROUT, GOLD UP ON US JOBS
Silver rose 2 percent on Friday, snapping a five-day losing streak that cut prices by almost a third, while Gold rose after encouraging U.S. jobs data
triggered a broad bounce in beaten-down commodities. Silver, hit by a succession of margin hikes that nearly doubled costs, had suffered the biggest
sell-off since prices collapsed in 1980. COMEX OPEN INTEREST UP
Silver rose 2 percent on Friday, snapping a five-day losing streak that cut prices by almost a third, while Gold rose after encouraging U.S. jobs data
triggered a broad bounce in beaten-down commodities. Silver, hit by a succession of margin hikes that nearly doubled costs, had suffered the biggest
sell-off since prices collapsed in 1980. COMEX OPEN INTEREST UP
with other markets after data showed private-sector hiring hit a five-year high in April. But metals pared gains when the dollar surged against the euro
after a German media report suggested Greece had raised the possibility of leaving the euro zone. Spot silver initially traded as low as $33.22, its weakest
since Feb. 25, pressured by follow-through selling after it plunged 12 percent on Thursday. It was up 1.8 percent at $35.30. U.S. futures' trading was
active, with volume nearly three times its 250-day average.
Open interest in U.S. COMEX silver futures rose 3 percent on Thursday even as prices fell sharply, a sign the market remains vulnerable to further selling.
The price of the U.S. June silver contract fell as much as 13 percent on Thursday, leading a broad decline in the commodities sector. On Friday, June was
down over 2 percent. Silver is heading for its worst week since the Hunt Brothers collapse in 1980, after shedding 26 percent this week as higher futures
margin requirements prompted speculators to unwind bullish positions.
Silver has slumped around 35 percent since touching a record high of $49.51 an ounce on April 28. A major factor behind the sell-off was higher margins
for silver traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group, which raises trading costs. A record $1 billion outflow from the iShares Silver Trust in the
week ended Wednesday helped feed silver's torrid price decline, just as the fund's earlier inflows aided the prior rally. The commodities sector was broadly
higher after the positive U.S. jobs report which suggested the economic recovery would regain speed this quarter after stumbling in the first three months
of the year. That view suffered setbacks earlier this week as other reports pointed to a slowing labor market.
GOLD UP ON PHYSICAL BUYING
Gold also bounced on Friday as jewelers, physical buyers and bargain hunters, especially in Asia, took advantage of lower prices. Spot Gold gained 1.4
percent to $1,491.80 an ounce, still sharply below a record high of $1,575.79 posted on May 2. COMEX June Gold futures settled up $10.20 at
$1,491.60, moving in a range from $1,471.10 to $1,498.50. For the week, Gold lost 5 percent, the worst weekly performance since late February 2009.
Sentiment among precious metals investors also took a hit after high-profile investor George Soros, who was bullish on Gold and a top investor in Gold
funds, has been selling Gold and silver in the past month or so, traders said. Indians, the world's biggest buyers of bullion, took Gold's latest tumble as
another incentive to buy on Akshaya Tritiya, one of the major Gold-buying festivals, and as India's wedding season gathered pace.
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