NWM Mining Corp fka NWMMF

[the cork]

Comex Gold 1665.20, Silver 31.24 Ticks Higher, Awaits Data
May 01, 2012 By Tatyana Shumsky Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

--Comex June gold up 0.3% at $1,669.50/oz
--Investors look ahead to U.S. ISM, construction data
--Monday's volatile trading still in focus

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures edged higher on a weaker dollar as traders looked ahead to U.S. economic data due later Tuesday, though chatter about Monday's volatile trading persisted in the market.

The most actively traded contract, for June delivery, was recently up $5.30, or 0.3%, at $1,669.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A weaker dollar gave gold a boost. Dollar-denominated gold attracts buyers who use other currencies when the dollar eases as the yellow metal seems cheaper to these investors. The ICE Dollar Index was recently at 78.661 down from 78.824 earlier.

Market participants were cautiously upbeat ahead of U.S. manufacturing and construction-spending data. Reports released in recent weeks have painted a more obscure picture of the U.S. economy, stoking worries that growth is slowing and raising hopes of a third round of quantitative easing. Gold prices, which have rallied during past instances of monetary stimulus, are likely to benefit from another round of stimulus.

Elsewhere, traders continue to digest Monday's volatile early-morning trading. CME Group Inc. (CME) briefly halted trading in gold futures Monday following a sharp plunge in prices.

Many in the market initially attributed the fall in gold to a "fat finger", or input error. However, some participants later questioned whether the massive flux of activity seen at 8.31 a.m. was an erroneous trade or a flurry of automatic-selling orders triggered by electronic trading programs.

CME Group Inc. said that no transactions were cancelled Tuesday and that a 10-second trading halt occurred at 8:31 a.m., just as New York trading day was getting under way.

The move down could have been triggered by early-morning losses in silver, as the two precious metals often move in tandem, said Frank McGhee, head precious metals dealer with Integrated Brokerage Services.

"I think someone came in and realized that gold was out of line with silver on the day, sold into some stops and you had a cascade," said McGhee.

-By Tatyana Shumsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3095; [e-mail]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-01-12 0949ET

http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/2/2/177939922.html