By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Gold futures held on to their gains and palladium prices jumped to recover some of the losses suffered last week as eased worries about Greece’s exit from the euro zone appeared to aid demand for precious metals.
June gold futures GCM2 +1.27% climbed $5.90, or 0.4%, to $1,574.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The actively-traded gold contract for delivery in August rose 0.4% to $1,577.40 an ounce.
The June contract gains followed last week’s 1.4% loss for the metal last week. U.S. markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.
The ICE dollar index DXY -0.12% , which measures the greenback against a basket of major rivals, was at 82.275, up a bit from 82.228 in North American trade on Monday, but lower than the 82.4 level seen late on Friday.
Among other metals, July silver prices SIN2 +1.41% were up 0.3% at $28.47 an ounce, while the platinum PLN2 +1.09% and copper HGN2 +1.62% futures contracts for delivery in the same month were up 0.7% to $3.47 a pound and 0.5% at $1.434 per ounce, respectively.
But palladium was the biggest gainer in the metals complex, with the June contract PAM2 +3.00% rising 2.5%, or $14.45, to $604.45 an ounce to recoup some ground last week. The contract is still down more than 11% so far in May.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
