Gold at another record high

Gold prices hit a record price for a second day in a row, rising to $1,049.70 per troy ounce in New York, despite a stronger dollar as investors showed less interest in currencies generally.

December gold ended up adding $4.70 to trade at $1,044.40 per troy ounce in New York.

The record gold prices are causing concerns in India that demand for jewelry made with the precious metal will decline significantly if prices remain high, with some analysts saying that prices need to fall by 7 percent or more if demand is to revive in the world’s biggest consumer of gold for jewelry making.

Other precious metals also saw gains as December silver was up 21 cents to $17.50 per troy ounce and January platinum was $2.40 higher to $1,327.70 per troy ounce, while in late morning trade in New York December palladium gained $5.70 to $316 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile copper prices declined while other base metals saw mostly modest gains.

December copper fell a cent to $2.78 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $21 to $6,095 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange after going as low as $6,040 per tonne earlier in the session.

Demand concerns continued as trade was weak while Chinese markets remained closed for holidays and will not reopen until Friday, and as LME inventories rose another 725 tonnes on the session.

Lead added $5 to $2,155 per tonne while zinc was up $14 to $1,935 per tonne, aluminium was $23 higher to $1,845 per tonne, tin added $25 to $14,700 per tonne and nickel saw a bigger advance as it gained $470 to $18,600 per tonne.