Precious metals prices fall with oil prices

Precious metals prices fell on Thursday as the US dollar made gains on the possibility that the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates before the end of the year and as oil prices declined from Wednesday’s record high.

The drop in oil prices lessened demand for precious metals as a safe place to protect money from inflation.

June gold was down $10.30 to $918.30 per troy ounce near the end of floor trade in New York while July silver was 7 cents lower to $17.99 per troy ounce and July platinum fell $37.30 to $2,183.80 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, copper was down in New York and London on concerns about US demand, although prices were up in early trade on April import data into China, which gained 1.2 percent from March figures.

Three month copper was down $115 to $8,125 per tonne in London while July copper dropped 3 cents to $3.71 per pound in New York trade.