Gold futures settled slightly lower, silver off 1.3% Thursday

(MarketWatch) — Gold futures settled slightly lower Thursday, after veering between minor gains and losses, as investors welcomed news that German lawmakers voted to increase the size and flexibility of the European rescue fund.

Gold for December delivery  settled 80 cents lower, or 0.1%, at $1,617.30 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded between a low of $1,585 and a high of $1,637.90.

“One of gold’s near-term problems is diminishing inflation expectations and higher yields from stocks, so the money is following nominal yields — [and] right now, it’s stocks with growth and stocks with big dividends,” said Richard Hastings, macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities.

The December silver contract ended 39 cents higher, or 1.3%, to $30.522 an ounce, after falling 4.5% in the previous session.

Copper for December delivery closed nearly flat, settling at $3.246 a pound, after dropping 5.6% the previous session. Slowing growth from China, the number one buyer of copper, has been pushing copper prices lower this month, analysts say.

“China is the linchpin in the copper market,” said Frank Lesh, a broker and futures analyst at FuturePath Trading. “If they’re buying, we’re up, and if they’re not, we’re down, and right now, they’re not buying.”

Meanwhile, October platinum  was off $5.90, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,528.30 an ounce. December palladium  declined $11.15, or 1.8%, to $623.60 an ounce.

The moves in the metals came as the dollar lost ground against other major currencies, including a 0.8% gain for the euro  to $1.3648, after lawmakers in Germany voted to increase the European Financial Stability Facility — the euro-zone rescue fund.

“We’ve reduced the flight-to-safety bid in gold because it appears as if Europe is making some progress with their debt progress,” Lesh said.

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