Palladium declines by $2

Precious metals prices were higher in New York on Thursday.

December gold added 70 cents to $676 per troy ounce in early afternoon trade on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, bringing its price gain to 6 percent so far this year.

September silver was also higher, gaining 4 cents to $13 per troy ounce for a gain of 0.5 percent on the year.

At the same time, October platinum added $8.10 to $1,299 per troy ounce as investors speculated that recent decline were too extreme.

Palladium which, like platinum, is used both in vehicle emission-control devices and to make jewelry, was $2 lower as it traded at $366.30 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, September copper traded 1 cent lower to $3.57 per pound in New York and dropped 50 cents to $7,859.50 per tonne in London on a report that June factory orders were not up as much as had been expected in the United States in June, and despite ongoing strikes that interfered with production at a mine in Mexico.