German and French leaders vow to strengthen European banks
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Gold and silver futures rallied Monday, as investors showed strong appetite for commodities and stocks, while the U.S. dollar fell sharply against other major currencies.
Gold for December delivery GC1Z +1.72% rose $25.20 to $1,661 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.
Gold “continues to be underpinned by strong physical and retail investment demand,” said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, in a note to clients.
The gains for gold came as the U.S. dollar dropped against major rivals. Gold and the dollar tend to move in opposite directions, as a decline in the dollar makes gold cheaper and therefore more attractive for holders of other currencies.
The euro surged 1.4% against the dollar to $1.3568 after the leaders of Germany and France vowed to do all that’s needed to strengthen the European banking sector. They provided few details on their plan.
The dollar index DXY -1.55% , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, fell 1% to 77.902.
U.S. stock futures, meanwhile, pointed to opening gains for Wall Street.
In other metals trading, December silver futures SI1Z +3.33% rose 98 cents, or 3.2%, to $31.98 an ounce.
