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Rare metals and rare earths
Rare earths of a lanthanum subset, or lanthanides, are applied in production of permanent magnets, in iron and steel industry and non-ferrous metallurgy, in nuclear, electronic, chemical and other industries. |
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Non-metals
Non-metals are chemical elements that form simple elements with no
metal-specific qualities. Non-metals typically include 22 elements: gases - hydrogen,
nitrogen,
oxygen, fluor, chlorine and inert gases; liquids - bromine; solids - boron, carbon,
silicon, phosphorus,
arsenic, sulphur,
selenium, tellurium, iodine, astatine. |
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Gold closes below $674 an ounce; copper pressured by inventories |
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back to the News
Gold for December delivery fell $2.70, or 0.4%, to $673.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, climbing back from a steeper loss midday spurred by the Conference Board's release of its August consumer confidence survey. Sentiment fell sharply in August due to volatility in the credit markets, the private group said. See Economic Report.
That gauge, combined with a Standard & Poor's report showing U.S. home prices fell at a faster rate in the second quarter, down 3.2% compared with the same period in 2006, offset inflationary signals from the weaker dollar. See housing story.
"Growth-related fears once again overcame the equity and oil markets in the wake of a double bad-news whammy from the U.S. economy," said analyst Jon Nadler of Kitco Bullion Dealers in emailed comments. "Gold spot prices could not and did not ignore the news."
Elsewhere in the futures pits, silver for September delivery closed unchanged at $11.765 an ounce. October platinum gained $8.30, or 0.7%, to end at $1,260.60 an ounce. And December palladium lost $4.4, or 1.3%, to close at $332.55 an ounce.
The dollar fell against the yen but rose slightly against the euro and pound. A weaker dollar is an inflation signal that can prompt investors to bid up gold as a hedge against higher prices. See full story.
In base metals, September copper dropped 3.80 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.3115 a pound, pressured by a jump in inventories on the London Metal Exchange. back to the News |
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