Gold slides $1 to $1,207; WTI drops 0.9% to $66.81

Frankfurt (Dec 4)  Gold fell today after the European Central Bank refrained from announcing more stimulus but the precious metal retained its solid weekly gain to remain above the $1,200 level that many traders watch closely.

Gold for February delivery fell $1 to settle at $1,207.70 an ounce. For the week, the contract is up 2.7 percent.

The ECB left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.05 percent and announced that it will wait until 2015 to consider additional market supportive measures, including buying European sovereign debt.

In other metals trading, March silver gained 1 percent to $16.58 an ounce. Silver is up 6.6 percent for the week, so far.

January platinum increased 1.5 percent to $1,245.90 an ounce, while March palladium gained 0.6 percent to $802.15 an ounce.

High-grade copper for March delivery ticked up 1.5 percent to $2.91 a pound.

In energy trading, Brent crude retreated to the lowest level in more than four years and West Texas Intermediate also slipped amid concern the global market will remain oversupplied following OPEC’s decision to keep output unchanged.

Brent for January settlement slid 0.4 percent, to $69.64 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the lowest close since May 2010.

WTI for January delivery dropped 0.9 percent to finish at $66.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have declined 32 percent this year.

Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., lowered the official selling price for Arab Light to Asia next month to a discount of $2 against the regional benchmark, according to an email from the company today.

Source: ProactivceInvestors