gold prices and mining companies stock reportSpot gold prices once again were steady around US$1,125/oz after showing yet more volatility yesterday, when the yellow metal slipped below US$1,120/oz after almost reaching US$1,135/oz, largely in response to movements in the currency markets.

Gold fell after the euro weakened against the US dollar on comments from a Greek official, who said that the country was unlikely to receive aid from fellow euro zone members and could turn to the International Monetary Fund for help.

The American currency rose on the comments to push down gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the US dollar.

The US dollar has been under pressure after the Federal Reserve decided to leave its interest rates unchanged and showed further weakness today after US jobless claims data showed a decline of 5,000 to 457,000, while a drop to 455,000 was expected. Meanwhile, US inflation stayed unchanged in February following a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

Silver followed gold, sliding to US$17.45/oz, while platinum held steady at US$1,629/oz.

Major miners were mixed today. Platinum producer Lonmin was flat, while fellow FTSE 100 constituents were in decline as gold miner Randgold Resources posted a marginal loss, while silver and gold miner Fresnillo dropped 1.2%.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey was unmoved.

Aquarius Platinum was the top performing midcaps with a small gain. Gold miner Petropavlovsk made little headway, while silver producer Hochschild Mining declined marginally.

London listed Australian gold producer Leyshon Resources led the juniors with a 10% rally. Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold and Fiji focused gold miner Vatukoula Gold Mines followed, climbing 8% and 4% respectively.

Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold slipped 4.5%.

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