NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose Tuesday, after losing the most in nearly nine months in the previous session, as a weakening U.S. dollar raised the metal's appeal as an alternative investment.
Gold for February delivery, the most active contract, rose $6.50, or 0.8%, to end at $783.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December gold futures, the front-month contract, ended at $781.30 an ounce.
The February contract slumped 5.2% Monday, the biggest one-day percentage loss since March, according to FactSet Research, as the confirmation that the U.S. economy was in recession triggered a fresh round of asset liquidation. Other commodities also fell, with the benchmark crude contract tumbling 9.4%.
"Given the recent rise in inter-bank cash rates and the likelihood of further risk reduction toward year-end, we expect commodities to remain vulnerable to further bouts of liquidation," wrote James Moore, a precious metals analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.
In currencies trading Tuesday, the dollar index , which tracks the value of the greenback against its major rivals, fell 0.4%. See Currencies.
Comex gold futures open interest, or the number of outstanding contracts, has marked sharp declines last month. It fell to 276,567 contracts in the week ended Nov. 25, down 13% from a month ago, according to latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Open interest of the December gold contract, which expires on Dec. 29, stood at 2,581 contracts Tuesday. One contract of Comex gold futures represents 100 ounces of gold.
Gold inventories held by the Comex for futures delivery stood at 2,908,224 ounces as of Monday, down 7,202 ounces from a day ago, according to latest data from the exchange.
In gold spot trading, the London gold-fixing price -- used as a benchmark for gold for immediate delivery -- stood at $780 an ounce Tuesday afternoon, up $2 from Monday.
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold exchange-traded fund, stood at 758.12 tons on Monday, unchanged from a day ago, according to the latest data from the fund. The SPDR Gold Trust rose 1.6% to $76.89.
In other metals, March silver futures rose 2.5% to $9.615 an ounce. January platinum fell slightly to 807.30 an ounce and March palladium dropped 1.1% to $173.70 an ounce.
March copper slid 1.9% to $1.6005 a pound.
On the equities side, the Amex Gold Bugs Index , which tracks the share prices of major gold companies, rose 4.8% to 222.06.
The iShares Gold Trust exchange-traded fund added 1.8% to $77.13, while the iShares Silver Trust ETF rose 3.7% to $9.52. The Market Vectors-Gold Miners ETF advanced 8% to $24.30.
