By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures continued their run toward $1,500 an ounce in electronic trade on Wednesday, with the broader suite of metals also tracking higher.
Gold for June delivery GCK11 -0.02% added $3.40, or 0.2%, to rise to $1,498.50 an ounce in Asian trading hours on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold is on the path to its sixth consecutive session of gains, as the weaker U.S. dollar, persistent European-debt worries and Standard & Poor’s move Monday to cut its outlook on the U.S. sovereign rating have spurred buying of the metal.
“Gold prices came under significant selling pressure at the start of the year on the back of a run of positive macro-economic data,” analysts at Barclays Capital said in a research note.
“Rising geopolitical tensions across the Middle East and North Africa, uncertainty following the events in Japan, fears of higher inflation, a weaker dollar, the recent resurfacing of European sovereign debt risk, and now heightened concerns over the U.S. have outweighed the recent rate hikes to drive prices to fresh highs,” the analysts said.
The dollar index DXY -0.25% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, dropped to 74.92, down from 75.078, late Tuesday. Read more about currencies.
Prices of other metals also improved on Wednesday, with silver continuing to hover at 31-year highs. The May contract for the metal SIK11 +0.72% rose 34 cents, or 0.8%, to $44.26 an ounce.
Copper for May delivery HGK11 +1.03% gained 5 cents, or 1.2%, to $4.28 a pound.
Platinum for July delivery PLN11 +1.03% put on $21.10, or 1.2% to $1792.40, while the June contract for palladium PAM11 +1.49% added $10.15 or 1.4% to $741.25 an ounce.
