MARKET TALK: Comex Gold Tumbles In 'Normal Correction'

Comex gold and silver are correcting lower with stocks and other commodities. Weak U.S. consumer sentiment reported at the end of last week continues to play a role, says Sterling Smith, commodity trading advisor and market analyst with Country Hedging. China's stock market fell nearly 6% overnight. U.S. equities are also on the defensive, while the dollar is stronger. "So you have two things working against commodity prices," Smith says. "Along with that, you see this general [economic] nervousness, which leads to commodity sell-offs. When the stock market has these fits, the fears of inflation dies down, fears of a recession come back up, and fears of lower demand come into place." However, Smith says, he considers the moves nothing more than a "normal correction" after the markets had been rallying "fast and furiously." Dec gold is $15 lower at $933.70 an ounce, while Sep silver is down 70.7 cents to $14.015. (ALS)