GOLD RETREATS...

As long as gold holds the 980 range I will add to my already large position... see chart

* December gold futures settled down $7.30 at $991.60 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

 * Range from $1,000.50 to $985.50, which marked the lowest price since Sept. 10.

 * Gold's recent drop was a minor correction after it failed to clearly break above strong resistance at $1,020 an ounce level earlier this week - traders.

 * Gold's retreat is definitely dollar-driven, and a correction in an overly long U.S. futures market could send prices to the mid- to upper-$900 range...

 * Weak physical demand from top bullion consumer India because of near-record-high prices also accelerated selling...

 * The dollar turned weaker against the euro after U.S. consumer sentiment data was improving, and that took gold futures off their session lows...

 * U.S. oil futures slightly rebounded, rising to around $66 a barrel, after dropping $3 in the previous session on weak economic sentiment...

 * Gold-to-oil ratio at 15, down from the previous session's 15.12.

 * COMEX estimated final volume at a busy 128,755 lots.

 * Spot gold XAU= was at $989.15 an ounce at 4:02 p.m. EDT (2002 GMT) versus $993.75, which was the previous session's late New York quote.

 * London afternoon gold fix XAUFIX= was at $991.50

 SILVER
 * December silver SIZ9 ended down 23.5 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $16.060 an ounce, tracking gold's decline.
 * Range from $15.955 to $16.410.
 * COMEX estimated final volume at 36,500 lots.
 * Spot silver XAG= was at $16.02, versus its previous finish of 16.18 an ounce.
 * London silver fix XAGFIX= at $16.20 an ounce.