Impressive gains are seen in platinum and palladium, which are rising strongly above their recent ranges.

Short term price trends will continue to largely depend on gold.

The market conditions are likely to remain quite nervous over the next few days and near-term weakness in the TOCOM (Tokyo) market cannot be ruled out.

We believe that the fund interest in silver is built upon a much narrower base of investors than gold, leaving it more vulnerable to big price moves in either direction.

Price dynamics in gold next year will continue to be largely determined by speculative interest, backed by a myriad of justifications like inflationary risks, energy-price led economic slowdown, expectations of a US dollar correction, soaring...

A lot of investors are just buying because the price is going up, then trying to find reasons to explain it.

The downside appears quite limited at present…There are factors pointing to further gains in the gold market in the short term.

We have not seen evidence of good physical demand at lower levels. Prices have been primarily driven by funds and, therefore, are vulnerable to sell-offs, should funds decide to exit the market.

The strong price action and impressive technical trends in various currencies suggest prices should remain elevated in 2006.

The downside is largely capped at $535.

I think the current environment is very supportive for gold. There is still a considerable amount of fund buying interests on price dips.

I think near-term volatility is going to persist. There is a general sense of lack of direction in the market.

There is still a negative stigma associated with hedging.

Whether or not the rally can continue hinges critically on how long investors decide to stay in the market.

Given the way the market has been trading over the past few days, we are very likely to see prices testing another 25-year high again this week.

The market has been rising without any major correction since late last year. This sort of correction was largely anticipated and it could be taken by some as a healthy feature to the market.

Prices are being driven up by hedge funds, which are buying platinum because its fundamentals are looking good. Platinum has been in deficit for the past six years, and it’s expected it will be in...

We will not rule out the possibility of further weakness and prices are likely to remain volatile in a broader range.

We see potential for further downside pressure over the near term, but the market generally appears well supported at the moment. So any weakness is unlikely to be very violent or major.

Gold is probably going to remain in a range-bound trade today and should find good support above $565 against an environment of high oil prices.

Technical trends are looking very strong and people find it very risky to go short right now. I think that’s why the rally has been continuing.

Any price dip has been quite well supported by fund buying, and aggressive selling has been discouraged. The positive sentiment remains very strong and people are looking for further price gains.

We expect the market to remain in consolidation mood for now, though thin trading conditions ahead of the long holiday weekend could well spark big price movements.

After yesterday’s weakness there could be some consolidation in the near term, but overall we continue to see upside potential in this market.

The platinum group metals remain well below their recent peaks.

There is no market-specific impetus for fresh long positions to be established at present. Sentiment has been weakened by weakness across commodities over the past few days and the dollar is holding up well.

The weaker (gold-dollar) correlation late last year and early this year was due to the overwhelming enthusiasm among the speculative community to drive prices higher.

We see some positive factors that could potentially bring prices near the top of this range.

With a lack of fresh catalysts to trigger a significant move in either direction, we expect gold to remain in its consolidation mood over the near term.

Overall we continue to see upside potential in this market.

Interest still exists even at such high prices.

A weak dollar has been the key supportive theme recently, while the surrounding geopolitical backdrop is adding to the support.

The fund interest is still very strong, probably also encouraged by the latest CFTC data that shows a fall in the net length, giving speculators more confidence to extend their long positions.

This has the potential to push prices higher. Gold has always had a traditional role as an asset which holds its value in times of uncertainty.