Gold, silver gain as platinum declines

Metals prices were mixed Monday after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) sent global markets into disorder.

Gold and silver saw gains as worried investors sought them out as a safe-haven, but there were worries that gold’s gains could be limited as some speculators could have to sell their gold to raise cash to meet other losses.

December gold was up $22.50 to $787 per troy ounce in New York, while December silver added 34 cents to $11.13 per troy ounce.

Earlier, in morning trade, October platinum and December palladium were both lower as investors saw government bonds as safer investments than the metals that are used in the manufacture of pollution-control devices for mother vehicles.

In mid-morning trade in New York platinum had dropped $36 to $1,174.50 per troy ounce while palladium was down $5.65 to $237.15 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, December copper was 6 cents lower to $3.14 per pound while three-month copper dropped $157 to $6,965 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.