Gold shackled by dollar, China

Precious metal drops to multiyear low points; oil slides on supply concerns

london — Gold prices hit multiyear low points last week, hit by a stronger dollar and weak Chinese demand.

With metals prices generally weak, mining groups Anglo American and Lonmin on Friday announced plans to cut their headcounts by up to a combined 12,000 staff.

Precious metals

Gold slumped to the lowest point in nearly five-and-a-half years, weighed down by the strong dollar and reports of massive selling in China, dealers said. The metal struck $1,072.35 an ounce last Monday — the lowest level since February 2010. Sister metal silver hit a six-year trough at $14.37 an ounce and platinum reached the lowest level in more than six years to $946.25 an ounce. Gold had already slid the previous week on the back of the strong dollar, which soared last week after US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen reaffirmed expectations of an interest rate hike by year-end. The precious metal failed also to benefit from its traditional status as a safe-haven investment. By Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold dropped to $1,080.80 an ounce from $1,132.80 a week earlier. Silver fell to $14.49 an ounce from $15.01. On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum slipped to $979 an ounce from $998. Palladium retreated to $616 an ounce from $655.

Oil

Prices slid on persistent concerns about abundant supplies in a slowing global economy. New York crude finished below $49 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since March 31. On Friday, Brent North Sea crude struck a near four-month low at $54.40. The US Department of Energy on Wednesday said the country’s commercial crude stockpiles rose 2.5 million barrels last week, while supplies at the closelywatched Cushing, Oklahoma, hub were up 800,000 barrels. The report also showed US production

IT IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY GOLD — BOTH WAYS: A man advertising for a jewellery store in Manhattan. Gold struck $1,072.35 an ounce last Monday — the lowest level since February 2010. —

fell to