NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold and other metals futures rallied Monday, getting a boost from soaring oil prices, weakness in the U.S. dollar and President-elect Barack Obama's pledge of massive new infrastructure investment to buoy the U.S. economy.
Gold for February delivery vaulted $18.40, or 2.5%, to $770.60 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier, the contract hit an intraday high of $782.80 an ounce.
Gold joined a broad-based rally in commodities. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index , a benchmark gauging the prices of major commodities, rose 3.2% to 215.17 points. Oil futures rallied 7%. See Futures Movers.
"Metal prices are higher on account of a short-covering bounce from extremely oversold conditions and on positive sentiment emanating from weekend news that a deal with Detroit's automakers might be imminent," said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global, in a research note.
Last week, gold prices finished the week down 8.2%, the first weekly loss since the week ended Oct. 31.
In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar fell against most of its major rivals, boosting dollar-denominated commodities such as gold.
The dollar index , which tracks the performance of the dollar against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded at 85.91, down from 87.14 in North American activity late Friday. See Currencies.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks posted strong gains Monday, extending the prior session's rally, with investors cheered by President-elect Barack Obama's pledge of massive infrastructure investment and reports a deal is in the works to help the failing auto industry. See Market Snapshot.
Over the weekend, Obama said he wants to create millions of jobs by "making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s."
In his radio address Saturday, Obama said he's asked his economic team to develop a recovery plan that will "help save or create at least 2.5 million jobs, while rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, reducing our dependence on oil, and saving billions of dollars." Read more.
Also on the Globex Monday, March silver futures rallied 68 cents, or 7%, to $10.10 an ounce after hitting an intraday high of $10.35.
January platinum futures rose $55.20, or 7%, to $842.40 an ounce and March palladium futures gained $12.25, or 7.5%, to $174.95 an ounce. March copper futures rose 12 cents, or 9%, to $1.50 a pound.
On the equities side, the Amex Gold Bugs Index ) , which tracks the share prices of major gold companies, rallied 7.5% to 228.95 points.
The iShares Comex Gold Trust ETF gained 1.3% and the iShares Silver Trust ETF rose 6.8%. The Market Vectors-Gold Miners ETF rallied 9.4%.
