Gold Futures Up Modestly; Coffee Leaps

NEW YORK – Gold futures finished modestly higher Friday at the New York Mercantile Exchange, as nervous and volatile trading conditions continued to plague the precious metal.

Among the other commodities, crude oil slipped, coffee leaped and cotton rose.

The benchmark December gold contract settled $2.30 higher at $647.80 an ounce.

During the day, the contract dipped to a low of $638 an ounce, nearly closing the gap left open after Thursday’s rally between $636 an ounce and $643 an ounce. However, short covering lent a hand to gold, taking it to a session high of $649.80 an ounce.

Traders said that despite a report of slower-than-expected U.S. economic growth, December gold ran into heavy resistance near the $650 an ounce mark.

Friday’s advance reading of second-quarter gross domestic product showed U.S. growth slowed more than expected, to an annual rate of 2.5 percent compared with 5.6 percent in the first quarter.

The dollar dropped in response to the news. However, participants in the gold market were eyeing the moves of crude oil, which at one point dipped below the $73 a barrel mark amid talk of a cease-fire in the Middle East.

Analysts at MKS Finance said in a daily note that this week’s moves reinforce their view that gold is building a strong base above $600 an ounce and the violence between Israel and Hezbollah continues to encourage some safe-haven buying.

Silver futures remained fairly quiet throughout the session with the most-active September contract trading in a tight range of $11.32 an ounce to $11.45 an ounce. The contract later settled at $11.365 an ounce, down 2.5 cents on the day.

October platinum settled $8.30 lower at $1,233.70 an ounce. For palladium, the benchmark September contract ended $6.30 lower at $314.15 an ounce.

The most-active September copper contract rose 7.05 cents to settle at $3.5490 per pound.

In Nymex energy trading, crude-oil prices slumped to their lowest level in more than a week, as international calls for a cease-fire in the Middle East intensified.

The September light, sweet crude contract fell $1.30 to close at $73.24 a barrel, after falling as low as $72.80. That’s the lowest price for a front-month contract since July 19.

August gasoline, which is due to expire as the front-month contract Monday, closed 6.25 cents lower at $2.2335 a gallon. August heating oil, also due to expire, fell 3.84 cents to finish at $1.9412 a gallon.

September natural gas futures finished 6.1 cents higher at $7.184 per million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, Arabica coffee futures sped to 2-week highs, with the front month nearing but not reaching the $1 a pound mark as funds covered shorts and bought and stops were sparked – prompted by a rally in the London robusta market.

September coffee ended 2.60 cents higher at 99.40 cents a pound and December gained 2.60 cents to $1.0350 a pound.

The most-active September cocoa contract settled $3 higher at $1,492 per ton.

October futures on raw sugar in foreign ports finished 0.01 cent lower at 14.76 cents a pound.

In cotton trading, the most active December contract finished 0.14 cents higher at 55.54 cents per pound.

At the Chicago Board of Trade, August soybeans ended 2.5 cents higher at $5.7650 a bushel, November soybeans finished 3 cents higher at $5.98 a bushel. December soymeal settled $1.30 lower at $169.40 a short ton, while December soyoil ended 0.54 cents higher at 27.31 cent a pound.

September wheat settled 0.75 cent higher at $3.8850 a bushel, and December ended 0.50 cent higher at $4.08 a bushel.

September corn futures settled 0.5 cent lower at $2.3725 a bushel, and December declined 0.75 cent to $2.5350 a bushel.