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Gold prices weaker

NEW YORK: COMEX gold was weaker at midday, after slipping to new recent lows on comments this morning by IMF managing director Michel Camdessus reiterating his support for modest IMF gold sales.

Several traders expected any further downside moves in gold would be limited, however, after steady declines early in the week took prices to the bottom of their expected ranges.

At 1300 EDT, June gold was off $0.40 at $392.60 an ounce, traded from $394.00 to $392.20, the lowest for a most-active contract since Jan 2.

Dealers quoted bullion at $390.30/$390.80.

Although traders and analysts saw a growing possibility that the IMF gold sale proposal, which has come up repeatedly in recent years, would be approved, they downplayed its likely long-term impact on prices.

One analyst noted that sales were expected to be carried out in an orderly fashion and that they would probably be less than the 203 tonnes of gold sold by the Belgian central bank last month, some of which is thought to have hit the market.

Gold's open interest Wednesday fell 3,116 lots to 198,723, continuing its steady slide in recent sessions as speculators continued to unload long positions.

The KR-CRB commodity futures index was slightly higher, as a slump in the petroleum complex was more than offset by rallying grain and soybean prices.-Reuter