Gold prices closed higher Friday, boosted by some weakness in the dollar. But the gains were dented by more buying on Wall Street.
Other commodities, like oil and grains, rose along with stocks.
Gold prices traded within a narrow range Friday, but managed to finish higher for the third straight day as the dollar weakened against most other currencies. Investors often use the precious metal as a hedge against inflation, which can be triggered by a weak dollar.
Gold for June delivery rose $7.50 to settle at $914.10 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices finished up 3 percent for the week, benefiting not only from a weak dollar but also some uneasiness on Wall Street surrounding corporate earnings reports and the looming results of the stress test the government is conducting on the nation's largest banks.
But on Friday, a jump in stocks kept gold from moving higher than it did. Investors set aside some of their worries about the economy and sent the major indexes up more than 1 percent after better-than-expected quarterly reports from Ford Motor Co., American Express Co. and Microsoft Corp. energized the market.
Also Friday, the Federal Reserve released details of the stress test methodology used on the banks to determine which might be in need of more capital if the economy worsens. The results of the tests won't be made public until May 4, but investors seemed to be pleased that, while light on details, the report did not bring any bad news.
The market has rallied more than 20 percent off of 12-year lows since early March on increasing hopes that the economy may be on the mend.
"Because we're in such a low inflation time and the equity markets have been particularly strong of late, there really has been a lack of interest in gold since about mid-March, when the rally started in stocks," said Rob Kurzatkowski, futures analyst with OptionsXpress.
Other metals also rose. May silver gained 16.7 cents to $12.95 an ounce, while July copper futures added 5.9 cents to $2.05 a pound.
Oil prices also rose for a third straight day despite evidence of a huge surplus and weak energy demand.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped $1.93 to settle at $51.55 a barrel.
Gasoline for May delivery increased 4.46 cents to $1.439 a gallon, and heating oil rose 4.42 cents to $1.3621 a gallon.
Grain prices mostly rose on the Chicago Board of Trade.
July wheat futures inched up 2.5 cents to $5.4325 a bushel, while July soybeans rose 2 cents to $10.34 a bushel.
Corn for July delivery dipped 4.25 cents to $3.8575 a bushel.
