Gold was unchanged in the first hour of New York trading on Friday, but that was as good as it got, with the metal plummeting nearly $25 by mid-morning, after which a rally to the late Comex was abruptly snuffed out and the price limped to a finish at $954.60/oz., down $25.80. For the week, gold slipped 2.6%. Platinum peaked in Hong Kong, then traded choppily through the day but with a general down bias, ending at $1263, down $28. For the week, platinum was up 6.3%.

Silver was already declining when it hit the same strong morning selling as gold, and it dropped briefly below $15.20 at mid-morning, a low that it nearly revisited as it remained weak through the day to close at $15.27, down 61 cents. For the week, silver skidded by 3.4%. (Click here for charts)

The precious metals capped an up-again, down-again week by visiting

Gold held above $905 until late in the Hong Kong session on Tuesday, dropped off in London trading, and remained rangebound between $895 and $900 virtually all day, finishing at $898.00/oz., down $4.30. Overnight, gold is sharply lower.

Platinum sank from late in Hong Kong straight through to mid-morning, where it bottomed below $930 before rallying back past $950 just after noon, then went flat from there, ending at $945/oz., down $14. Overnight, platinum is flat.

Silver fluctuated from just below $11.90 to just above $12.10 all day, with lots of rallies and retreats, closing finally on an upmove at $12.05/oz., up 5 cents. Overnight, silver is little changed. (Click here for charts)

It was a second straight breather of a day for the precious metals, as the market continues to digest last week’s strong move higher.

The usual suspects weren’t particularly supportive, with equities erratic, oil slumping again, and the

Japanese yen rallies…  Renminbi stumbles…  A very tough data week in store…  Rate cuts all around the world… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Well… When I left you last Wednesday, I had thought that we could be on the cusp of a “change” in the currencies, as the Trading Theme that had held a tight grip on the currencies since July, was thrown to the side for a couple of days… But, I doubt “that” has happened, as a return to risk aversion is back on the table, which means the currencies and precious metals get sold, while Japanese yen, and U.S. Treasuries (read dollars) get bought.

And Japanese yen is “getting bought!” Yen is trading

Gold had itself a real seesaw day yesterday, poking about $15 higher by the time New York opened, really taking off and rising as high as $768 in the first hour, but then encountering a steep falloff that dropped it nearly to $740 by noon, after which it edged higher again and leveled off to finish at $744.70, up $10.80 from Friday. Overnight, gold has slipped lower.

Platinum peaked at $880, also in the first hour of the Comex, then sold off through the rest of the session before taking back a bit of ground in the Globex to end at $853/oz., up $9. Overnight, platinum is sharply lower.

Silver followed the same track as its sister metals, reaching past $10.50 on the upside, but retreated substantially to close at $10.14/oz., up only 7 cents. Overnight, silver has fallen off. (Click here for charts)

Monday was a disappointing day

Gold was very tightly rangebound from the far East through to mid-morning in New York, when it suddenly fell off a cliff, dropping $20 in a half hour, after which it leveled off and traded sideways for the rest of the day before finishing at $736.90, down $24.20. Overnight, gold is little changed.

Platinum peaked above $880 in the late morning and, though it gave ground thereafter, ended in positive territory at $858/oz., up $15. Overnight, platinum is trending lower.

Silver staged a strong rally in the last two hours of the Comex, rising almost to $10.60 before sliding lower through the Globex to close at $10.25/oz., up 8 cents. Overnight, silver has edged higher. (Click here for charts)

It was surely disappointing to gold bugs that the metal couldn’t string together two powerful days in a row, especially on a day in which its sister metals both

World’s Largest Gold Refiner Runs Out of Krugerrands (Update1) By Claudia Carpenter

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — Rand Refinery Ltd., the world’s largest gold refinery, ran out of South African Krugerrands after an “unusually large” order from a buyer in Switzerland.

The order was for 5,000 ounces and it will take until Sept. 3 for inventories to be replenished, said Johan Botha, a spokesman for Rand Refinery in Germiston, east of Johannesburg. He declined to identify the buyer.

Coins and bars of precious metals are attracting investors as a haven against a sliding dollar and conflict between Russia and its neighbor Georgia. The U.S. Mint suspended sales of one- ounce “American Eagle” gold coins, Johnson Matthey Plc stopped taking orders for 100-ounce silver bars at its Salt Lake City refinery and Heraeus Holding GmbH has a delivery waiting list of as long as two weeks for orders of gold bars in Europe.

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