Gold
Ben Bernanke’s comments yesterday, on steps that the central bank would take to tackle the economy once the worst of the recession was over, provided support for the dollar. This minor boost was short lived and a soft dollar in today’s trading has seen gold climb to $953.40/oz. Overall, risk appetite seems to be tempered in the current environment and this is supporting gold. Gold’s very important hold above $950/oz could be further supported by a report released that the job market in the US is doing even worse than the overall economy, prompting fears that there will may be a major jobs deficit which could make the recession more prolonged and deeper.

Silver
Silver is already up nearly 1% today and a breach of $14 in the coming days is a distinct possibility. Appetite for silver is robust and a new US listed silver ETP saw its first investment yesterday. It is currently trading at $13.79/oz.

Platinum group metals
Platinum is finding it hard to gain any momentum at present. This is not helped by reports that major platinum users are decreasing their stocks, prompting concerns over future production needs. However the growing political instability in South Africa is likely to keep platinum supported at these levels. Platinum is currently trading at $1,179/oz. Palladium is still holding over the $250/oz level and is currently trading at $252/oz. Rhodium is currently $1,375/oz/$1,500/oz.