By Claudia Assis and Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures traded higher on Wednesday, shaking off some weakness in floor trading as the dollar came off its highs, and silver futures rallied 3%.
Gold for June delivery GCM11 +0.20% rose $5.50, or 0.4%, to $1,528.80 an ounce in the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded as low as $1,521.30 an ounce, at times in the black during electronic trading on a higher dollar.
Concerns about Greece’s debt and its implications for the euro zone continued to bring safe-haven.
Investors on Wednesday also grappled with news U.S. durable-good orders were sharply lower in April, rekindling worries of a economic slowdown and providing another leg of support for gold.
“We think that gold will remain well supported in the short term amid small-scale safe haven buying, and still in the absence of a substantial pick-up in physical demand,” analysts at VTB Capital in London said in a note to clients.
Gold rose $7.90 on Tuesday on worries surrounding Europe’s sovereign-debt situation. Read story on Tuesday's gold moves.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Bullion Association said it expects India’s gold imports to reach a record level of 1,000 metric tons this year if the monsoon season is good, analysts at Commerzbank said in a note to clients.
“Strong monsoon rainfall increases the income of the rural population, who are major buyers of gold jewellery in the world’s largest gold consumer country,” they said. Gold imports are likely to be 40-50 tons in May, but that’s 30% lower than the previous month, the analysts added.
The dollar index DXY +0.23% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 76.978, from 75.915 in late North American trading on Tuesday, but off highs hit earlier in the day. Read more on currencies
Silver and other metals discounted any concerns about falling durable-goods orders.
Silver for July delivery SIN11 +3.12% , which settled 3.5% higher the previous session, gained $1.20, or 3.3%, to trade at $37.36 an ounce.
July copper HGN11 +2.41% rose 9 cents, or 2.4%, to $4.11 an ounce.
