COMMODITIES : Dollar’s Decline Fuels Late Recovery in Gold Futures

Gold futures trimmed early losses Thursday after hitting the lowest levels in a month in a rally linked to a partial recovery in crude oil prices and the dollar’s weakness, analysts said.

On other markets, cotton futures traded up the daily limit for the second straight day; grain and soybean futures advanced, and livestock and meat were mostly higher.

On New York’s Commodity Exchange, the contract for December delivery of gold fell $9.30 to $475.50 an ounce, its lowest level since mid-November, as energy futures retreated during the morning, said Bette Raptopoulos, precious metals analyst in New York with Prudential-Bache Securities Inc.

But gold began recovering in the afternoon, buoyed first by the dollar’s slide to new lows against some foreign currencies and then by a reversal in crude oil prices.

Gold settled 20 cents to $1.30 lower, with December at $485.10 an ounce; silver was 39 cents to 44 cents higher, with December at $6.80 an ounce.

Oil futures ended mixed, but they began the day by heading down for the fifth consecutive session in what an analyst called panic long liquidation, or selling by traders who had expected prices to rise.

The market rallied after the January contract hit a low of $14.90 a barrel, breaking the $15 barrier for the first time since Dec. 9, 1986.

At that point, refiners and speculators began buying heavily, some on thoughts that the crude oil selloff had finally hit bottom, said Jerry Samuels, an analyst in New York with E. F. Hutton & Co.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled 12 cents lower to 4 cents higher, with January at $15.84 a barrel.

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