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Gold price drop weighs down TSX
BY KIM COVERT, POSTMEDIA NEWS SEPTEMBER 24, 2011
Gold weighed on Canada's benchmark stock index Friday, dragging it down on a day when other global markets regained some small bit of the ground lost in the previous day's steep sell-off.
Over the course of the week, the S&/ TSX composite index has lost 6.5% as investors reacted to myriad fears - that Greece would default on its debt, that the European debt crisis would spread, and that the United States was headed for a double-dip recession - culminating Thursday in a sell-off that saw the Toronto markets, as well as the Dow Jones industrial average in the United States hit lows not seen for more than a year.
But European and U.S. markets closed in positive territory Friday as G20 finance ministers and central bankers, meeting in Washington, said they would do everything necessary to avoid a financial crisis, and European policymakers discussed stepping up efforts to ease financial market tensions.
The S&/TSX closed down 99.64 points, 0.86%, at 11,462.87 Friday. The decline was tightly focused, as only two of its 10 subindexes fell: energy, down 0.8%, and materials, which dropped 4.3% as the price of gold fell US$101.90 to US$1,639.80 an ounce. It was the precious metal's lowest price since the beginning of August, before that month's market meltdown.
"Something's up with precious metals. Gold and silver normally thrive on uncertainty, not fall off a cliff," said analyst Colin Cieszynski of CMC Markets.
That "something" is closely linked to the European debt crisis, he said, as "discussion of a potential managed Greek bankruptcy," completely unheard of two years ago, has finally moved from financial to political circles.
"Thus, it appears that the action in gold and silver may be telling us that the European debt crisis may be starting to move into a new phase. A lot of things that had been whispered in dark alleys are now out in the open. The time of denial appears to be ending and politicians may finally be ready to start making decisive moves to end the crisis instead of stalling and hoping for the best."
The price of oil slipped US66¢ to US$79.85 a barrel Friday.
Canada's junior Venture exchange, whose fortunes are also linked to the price of gold, dropped 52.30 points, or 3.27%, to 1,546.08.
The Canadian dollar lost another US0.19¢, closing at US$97.14 Friday, down US5.01¢ on the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 37.65 points, or 0.35%, Friday to 10,771.48, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 27.56 points, or 1.12%, to 2,482.23.
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ni bukan nak crita pasal emas.......... bila puak2 celaka tu nak selaraskan harga minyak?!
bideo anwart menyebabkan harga minyak tak diselaraskan? |
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