COMEX gold and silver futures closednmodestly higher Monday despite fallingnsharply from intra-day highs reached innEuropean trading. Gold for April delivery,nthe active month, settled $5.90/oz highernat $1,434.50/oz. Prices rose steadily innearly European trading to approach then$1,446 level just before the start of NewnYork trading but fell sharply on the opennto the $1,431 level. April gold reboundednto the $1,442 level, but then fell againnin late morning, this time to the $1,428nmark before recovering modestly. Silvernfor May delivery settled $0.538/oz highernat $35.865/oz after following the samentrading pattern and finding strong supportnat the $36/oz level. Gold and silvernlargely traded in tandem with crude oilnprices, which also fell steadily in earlynEuropean trade after hitting $107/b butnfound strong support near the $105/bnlevel. “They’re pretty much an overlaynof each other,” one physical trader innthe Northeast said of gold and crudenoil. Both commodities were affected bynunconfirmed media reports that LibyannPresident Moammar Gadhafi might havenbeen negotiating a “safe exit” for himselfnand his family, and later that momentumnwas growing for a no-fly zone to stop airnstrikes by Gadhafi’s military supportersnagainst the rebels. “This news trickles outnand no one knows where it comes from.nBut fortunately today, the reaction wasn’tntoo large, at least compared with otherndays,” he said.
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