Gold gains but silver, platinum prices decline

Gold benefited from its reputation as a safe place to put cash Wednesday after the Commerce Department reported that retail sales in the United States unexpectedly fell by 0.4 percent in April and after the news on sales sent equities markets in the US and Europe lower.

June gold added $2 to $925.90 per troy ounce in New York trade, but other precious metals were lower on the session.

July silver dropped 20 cents to $14.02 per troy ounce while July platinum  was $8.90 lower in New York traded.

Copper prices, on the other hand, declined on the US retail sales report.

Also hurting copper prices was new information showing that industrial production did not grow as much in China in April as had been anticipated and European factory production fell at a record rate in March, leading to worries that demand for copper would remain weak.

July copper fell 6 cents to $2.03 per pound in New York trade while three-month copper was down $137 to $4,458 per tonne, or $2.02 per pound, on the London Metal Exchange.