By Barbara Kollmeyer and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch MADRID (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rose above $1,660 an ounce on Tuesday, moving in the opposite direction to a weakening U.S. dollar after China’s economy grew at a rapid clip in the fourth quarter, easing fears of a hard landing. Gold futures for February delivery GC2G +2.00% rose $33, or 2%, to $1,663.80 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex Tuesday. U.S. markets were closed for a holiday on Monday. Data released earlier on Tuesday showed that China’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product rose 8.9% from the year-ago period, topping estimates. Monthly data also showed better-than-expected retail sales and industrial production in December. Read full story on the economic data. Stocks in Europe rose on the Chinese data and U.S. stock futures were also higher. Europe was also lifted by an upbeat economic sentiment indicator out of Germany and a well-received Spanish debt auction. That followed a successful auction by France on Monday. Asian markets also climbed on Tuesday, staging a strong rebound after Monday’s decline, and reflecting improved risk appetite. The U.S. dollar index DXY -0.69% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major global currencies, fell to 80.942 from 81.436 in Europe Monday. That helped to lift several commodities that are priced in dollars, including gold and other precious metals. Among other metals, March silver futures SI2H +3.03% rose 3.1% to $30.420 an ounce and copper futures for the same month HG2H +2.79% surged 2.7% to $3.74 a pound. Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.

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