By Claudia Assis and Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rose on Wednesday, with investors dipping a toe back into commodities following a recent selloff. Gold for June delivery GCM11 +1.11% rose $15.20, or 1%, to $1,494.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal on Tuesday slid $10.60 to the lowest settlement since April 14. Silver for July delivery SIN11 +4.70% rallied $1.44, or 4.3%, to $34.93 an ounce. In the previous session, it dropped to its lowest close since Feb. 25. Simon Denham, head of Capital Spreads, said the metals were benefitting from weakness in the dollar, though he gave little credit to the chance of a sustained rally for silver. The dollar index DXY +0.00% , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded recently at 75.456 from 75.441 in late North American trading on Tuesday. Earlier, however, the index was falling as the dollar continued to give back some of the sharp gains it has recorded since the start of the month. The U.S. currency generally moves inversely to commodities, which are priced in dollars and made more expensive by a rising dollar. “The recent dollar strength seems to have just come to an end for now,” Denham said. “Dollar bears will be thinking this could be a good opportunity to get short the dollar again, particularly if the debt ceiling issues start to boil over.” Copper futures were also gaining ground Wednesday, with July copper HGN11 +2.38% up 10 cents, or 2.4%, to $4.10 a pound. Platinum and palladium also gained, with July platinum PLN11 +0.50% up $7.90 to $1,768.90 an ounce. Palladium for June delivery PAM11 +2.63% advanced $17.95 to $732.20 an ounce. Financial reports from Japan’s top auto makers “indicate an uneven recovery” in demand for platinum and palladium to be used in automobile catalysts, said ETF Securities, which offers exchange-traded funds physically backed by platinum, palladium and other metals.

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