Precious metals prices drop on stronger dollar

Metals prices were mixed on Wednesday as precious metals declined in New York as the US dollar gained on the euro, but base metals were mixed in London.

February gold on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was $3.80 lower to $803.80 per troy ounce while March silver fell 1 cent to $14.46 per troy ounce and January platinum dropped $4 to $1,468.30 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile among base metals, those use more commonly in industry, copper added 2 cents to $3.04 per pound in New York while three-month copper in London added $5 to $6,695 per tonne, but gains were held back by worries that demand will be hurt by weak growth in the US and in China, especially after statements by China that it will tighten monetary policy next year.

Nickel was also higher, adding $205 to $$25,900 per tonne.

Other base metals saw declines in London, including aluminium which dropped $2 to $2,465 per tonne as London Metal Exchange inventories added 6,300 tonnes to a total of more than nine days of global consumption.

Elsewhere, zinc dropped $19 to $2,406 per tonne while lead fell $55 to $2,830 per tonne and tin was down $150 to $16,500 per tonne.