Gold sank in the overseas markets, rallied back into positive territory by mid-morning Friday, but made its high for the day there, as it declined for the rest of the Comex before steadying through the Globex and finishing at $723.70, down $12.00. For the week, gold was off 1.5%.

Platinum bottomed near $770 in late Hong Kong trading, but moved gradually higher through most of the rest of the day, ending at $819/oz., down $7. For the week, platinum gained 3%.

Silver also hit its low late in Hong Kong, and it too pushed steadily higher, making it back into positive territory to close at $9.86/oz., up 13 cents. For the week, silver tacked on 5.2%. (Click here for charts)

While silver had a decent day, gold turned in yet another lackluster performance, ending October with a loss of 18%, the largest monthly decline for the metal in 28 years.

Gold was also held back as the dollar strengthened again vs. the euro, which offset any boost that might have been gotten from rising oil prices.

The reason for weakness in gold seems simple to Adrian Day, the president of Adrian Day’s Asset Management: “Global liquidation means more money from foreign assets are going into the dollar,” Day wrote. “The dollar is seen as a safe haven. There’s also liquidation of gold itself, which is easily sold.”

James Turk, the founder of Goldmoney.com, had a different take, though, saying that, “The dollar is in a short squeeze that won’t last much longer … Gold is dropping in dollar terms because of central-bank intervention and the massive deleveraging of dollar debt.”

The general sector weakness is also obviously playing in, with the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials notching its steepest monthly decline since at least 1956.

“There’s significant pressure on all metals and commodities,” said Paul Sutherland, of Financial & Investment Group in Traverse City, Michigan. “Gold is not acting like a currency. It’s acting like a commodity. People are selling gold and gold shares because it’s something you can sell to raise cash.”

Source: Gold has another disappointing day – But silver rises again

Last 5 posts by Doug Casey

• Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, July 27, 2009 - July 27th, 2009
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• Gold Pushes Through $950 - July 27th, 2009