Gold Slips

Gold prices eased a touch early Friday, though drift near the closely watched $1,300 line, after May’s drop for the metal marked a second straight monthly decline, MarketWatch reported. August gold lost $1.60, or 0.1%, to $1,303.10 an ounce. The contract ended about 1.6% lower for May. Based on the most-active futures contracts, gold was down about 1.1% in May. The metal hit a fresh 2018 low in mid-May and cracked the downside of a $1,300-to-$1,350 range that had confined gold for much of this year. Thursday’s trading was volatile. After the White House announced that it will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union starting Friday, prices for gold moved decidedly higher, before falling back again. In other metals trading, July silver fell 0.1% to $16.435 an ounce, with the contract up nearly 0.5% for May. July copper traded at $3.071 a pound, up 0.2%. July platinum slipped 0.1% to $909.60 an ounce.