Gold Closes Modestly Lower, Other Metals Mixed

8/13/2007 2:42:25 PM The price of gold moved modestly lower during trading on Monday, giving back some ground after showing a strong upward move in the previous session. Gold for December delivery closed down $0.70 at $680.90 an ounce. The modest decrease by the price of gold came amid some strength in the value of the U.S. dollar, which moved higher on the heels of the release of slightly better than expected retail sales data for the month of July. A report from the Commerce Department showed that retail sales rose 0.3 percent in July following a revised 0.7 percent decrease in June. Economists had expected sales to edge up 0.2 percent compared to the 0.9 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.Some traders also moved their money out of the safe haven of gold on news that the Federal Reserve and the European Central bank are injecting more money into the banking system, with the ECB saying that it now views the market as normalized.The other metal prices turned in a mixed performance, with the prices of silver and palladium moving lower along with the price of gold. Silver for September delivery closed down $0.015 at $12.855 an ounce, while palladium for September delivery closed down $0.05 at $358.15 an ounce.On the other hand, copper for September delivery closed up $0.0815 at $3.441 a pound after ending the previous session at a one-month closing low. Platinum for October delivery closed up $7.80 at $1,287.10 an ounce.