Precious metals prices slide as gold demand falls

Precious metals prices were lower in New York on Thursday after the demand for gold declined as equities markets gained enough that investors were not as worried about finding safe places to put their cash.

Price gains in the recent rally, which took the price of gold above $1,000 per troy ounce for a time, have many investors waiting for better prices to come along, with one analyst predicting that demand could return after gold drops below $920 per troy ounce.

April gold was $23.60 lower on the session to $942.60 per troy once while May silver dropped 94 cents to $12.98 per troy ounce and April platinum fell $7 to $1,053 per troy ounce.

In late morning trade June palladium which, like platinum, is used both in jewelry making and in the manufacture of motor vehicle pollution control devices, was down $4.30 to $196.90 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile, May contracts for copper were 4 cents higher to $1.58 per pound in New York trade.