Copper surges as metals complex makes broad gains By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose Tuesday for the first time in four sessions as the U.S. dollar weakened, pushing dollar-denominated prices for the precious metal higher. The dollar's likely to fall as the government plans to bail out the ailing financial industry have the effect of applying upward pressure on inflation, said analysts. Investors tend to buy gold as a hedge against inflation. Demand for the precious metal also tends to rise as the dollar weakens. Gold for December delivery rose $12.50, or 1.5%, to $855 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. "The unintended consequence of the ongoing financial bailout will be a return of inflationary pressures to the commodity markets," wrote analyst Francisco Blanch at Merrill Lynch. In a research note released Monday, the analysts predicted that gold prices will hit $1,500 an ounce and that oil will also reverse direction, rising to $150 a barrel. But they didn't specify when they think gold will hit the price target. Earlier Tuesday, The Treasury Department outlined a plan to inject $250 billion of the government's $700 billion rescue plan directly into U.S. banks. In currencies trading, the dollar traded up against the euro and the British pound. The Dollar Index which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, lost 0.4%. In other metals action to start the trading week, platinum for January delivery jumped 4.8% to $1,045 an ounce, while December palladium gained 0.5% to $204.75 an ounce. December silver also rose, up 1.3% to $10.94 an ounce. December copper jumped 8.4%, rallying to $2.51 a pound. In spot trading, the London gold-fixing price -- used as a benchmark for gold for immediate delivery -- stood at $849.50 an ounce Tuesday morning local time, up $18 from Monday afternoon.

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