Palladium, platinum and copper led a commodities rally Monday as investors took advantage of a weaker dollar and a positive report on consumer spending.
Traders are monitoring a series of government reports due this week that could reveal more clues about how strong the U.S. economy is and whether that will translate into greater industrial demand.
The Commerce Department on Monday said consumer spending rose for a fifth straight month in February, an indication of modest recovery.
The Agriculture Department will release a crop planting forecast report on Wednesday, and the Labor Department will release its monthly employment report later in the week.
The increase in consumer spending benefited industrial metals such as palladium and platinum, which are used by the automobile industry and in some consumer products.
Palladium for June delivery rose $19.70 to settle at $475 an ounce. April platinum settled $31.90 higher at $1,627.90 an ounce. Both metals are used by the automobile industry and in some consumer products.
"It's purely sort of an economic recovery story that's leading the platinum and palladium ... higher," said William Rhind, strategic director for ETF Securities.
May copper rose 13.25 cents to $3.5355 a pound.
Rhind also credited the broad commodities rally to the dollar's decline against other currencies, which came as investors grew more confident that Greece will be able to deal with its financial problems.
European leaders and the International Monetary Fund agreed last week to provide a safety net should Greece or other countries that use the euro fail to raise money by issuing new debt.
Commodities, which are priced in dollars, typically benefit when the dollar weakens because they become more attractive to foreign buyers. The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the dollar against the euro and five other currencies, fell 0.41 percent.
