Gold declined a bit in the far East, then spent the entire day range trading between $970 and $980, before finishing near the mid-point at $973.20/oz., down $10.30. Overnight, gold is sharply higher.

Platinum was down in Hong Kong, then dipped again in the second hour of New York trading, before rallying back and then trading sideways to end at $1067/oz., down $32. Overnight, platinum has pushed higher.

Silver peaked at $14.40 in Hong Kong, then declined with every rally snuffed straight through the Comex, bottoming at $13.90 before regaining a little lost ground on the Globex and closing at $14.03/oz., down 31 cents. Overnight, silver is trending higher. (Click here for charts)

It was probably to be expected that the precious metals would take a breather following the stout gains of the previous two days, and that’s just what happened. Losses, though, were probably capped by the declining dollar and rising oil prices.

No one was calling a market turn. Kitco’s Jon Nadler summed up by saying that the “overall tenor of the market remained firm.”

The Hightower Report diagnosed the silver action thusly: “The silver market broke sharply and even fell below a key chart point which seemed to add to the selling pressure. Seeing silver prices back at the highest level since August also prompted profit taking in an overbought market. A weaker Dollar and the S&P market holding its own seemed to dampen the safe haven appeal of silver seen in the previous session’s trade. The sharp sell off in silver may have also been tied to this week’s economic news the majority of which supports a weakening economy just ahead which could be damaging silver’s status as a quasi industrial metal. It was surprising that silver failed to garner any support from the sharp early gains in copper and that also suggests this market was trading off of technical signals.”

Meanwhile, investment in the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD), the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, showed no signs of slowing. GLD holdings moved to yet another record high of 1,024.09 metric tons, or nearly 33 million ounces.

GLD is now the seventh-largest holder of gold in the world, after the IMF and the governments of the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland, with the Swiss, at 1,040 tons, likely to fall behind the ETF soon.

Source: Precious Metals Consolidate Gains

Last 5 posts by Doug Casey

• Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, July 27, 2009 - July 27th, 2009
• Base Metals Higher - July 27th, 2009
• Crude Continues to Climb - July 27th, 2009
• Dollar Moves Lower - July 27th, 2009
• Gold Pushes Through $950 - July 27th, 2009