By Victor Reklaitis and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures advanced on Tuesday and silver jumped 4%, with analysts attributing gains in precious metals to upbeat Chinese economic data, upcoming strikes at South African mines and continued tension over Syria.
Gold for December delivery GCZ3 +0.42% rose $2.90, or 0.2%, to $1,399 an ounce.
Analysts at ICICI Bank noted that a “positive manufacturing data print from China aided the outlook on metal demand,” and helped support prices.
Adding to the brighter global macroeconomic picture, euro-zone manufacturing data released Monday showed a broadening recovery, with Spain and Italy showing an improvement. Likewise, a U.K. manufacturing report showed growth in the sector at the highest level in two and a half years.
In addition, “holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust GLD +0.67% remained steady [as of Sunday] ... which also gave some support to the metal and limited the downside,” ICICI Bank said.
“So far, the gold price is holding its own fairly well despite the better economic data and firmer US dollar,” said Commerzbank analysts in a note Tuesday. “It is finding support both from the ongoing geopolitical risks and from investors who had recently sharply increased their bets on climbing prices. At least psychologically, the forthcoming strikes in the South African gold mining industry – announced for today by the biggest union of mine workers – should also be lending some support.”
But the analysts added that they “believe that gold’s short-term potential has been fully exploited for now.”
In other metals action Tuesday, December silver SIZ3 +4.01% futures tacked on 94 cents, or 4%, to $24.45 an ounce.
December copper HGZ3 +0.97% added to its gains from Monday, made on the back of the upbeat Chinese manufacturing data. The futures advanced 6 cents to $3.29 a pound.
October platinum PLV3 +0.48% sold for $1,529.90 an ounce, rising $2.80 or 0.2%, while December palladium PAZ3 -2.17% added $1.35, or 0.2%, to $725.20 an ounce.
Victor Reklaitis is a New York-based markets writer for MarketWatch. Follow him on Twitter @VicRek.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter at @KitchenNews.
