Precious metals lower in early afternoon New York trade

In metals markets, prices were mixed among base metals and lower for precious metals. Early afternoon trade in New York found August gold down $2.30 to $654.70 per troy ounce. July silver had dropped 14 cents to $12.88 per troy ounce, while July platinum was $16.30 lower to trade at $1,291.70 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, copper added 0.4 percent to $7,465 per tonne even though London Metal Exchange stockpiles added 1,200 tonnes. The gains were attributed to strike trouble in Latin America, where a stroke began in Peru over the weekend. Nickel was up 3 percent to $38,800 per tonne in London after LME inventories of the metal were down by 480 tonnes. Lead was also higher, adding 6.3 percent to $2,700 per tonne on the news that while physical markets in Europe and the US are weak, Chinese demand is strong. Zinc was lower, with three-month prices down 0.6 percent to $3,530 per tonne.