Some precious metals prices rise

Precious metals prices were mixed on Friday, with gold and silver higher but platinum lower. June gold added $3.80 to $681.80 per troy ounce by early afternoon in New York, while July silver gained 12 cents to $13.58 per troy ounce. Platinum, however, was down by $10.60 to $1,293 per troy ounce. The threat of a strike next week in Peru, which is a major source of gold and silver, could have been one reason for price gains in those metals.

The fear of a strike could not hold copper above the $8,000 level, however, even though Peru is a major producer of that base metal as well. Copper dropped 2.6 percent during the week to trade at $7,745 per tonne. Elsewhere, the price of tin dropped by 3.1 percent over the week to $13,250 per tonne as supply worries receded in Indonesia.