By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures traded mostly higher Monday, but wavered between small gains and losses as hopes for a resolution this week for Europe’s debt crisis faded, U.S. economic data showed mixed results and the U.S. dollar edged higher.
Gold for December delivery GC1Z +0.18% tacked on $1.30 to trade at $1,684.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded between a low of $1,677.60 and a high of $1,696.80.
If prices close higher today, they’ll mark the highest closing level since Sept. 22. Prices logged a gain of 2.9% last week.
“Gold has broken through resistance at $1,690 and may challenge the $1,700 level after last week’s biggest weekly gain since early September,” said analysts at GoldCore, in a note Monday. ”Many investors remain nervous that contagion in the euro zone may not be averted ahead of the European Union debt crisis summit this weekend,” they said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman played down expectations that European leaders will finalize a comprehensive solution to the euro-zone debt crisis at a summit meeting this coming weekend, providing some safe-haven support for the U.S. dollar.
The dollar index DXY +0.53% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, rose to 77.055 from 76.645 in late North American trading on Friday.
A stronger dollar is usually negative for gold and other commodities as it renders them more expensive to holders of other currencies, weakening their investment appeal. Read more on currencies.
Meanwhile, traders digested the latest data on manufacturing and industrial output released Monday.
The nation’s industrial production rose 0.2% in September, capping a third-quarter rebound in activity for the manufacturing sector, according to the Federal Reserve. The headline gain was stronger than the 0.1% that economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast, though August’s reading tracking output by factories, mines and utilities was downwardly revised to zero from an initially reported 0.2% growth. Read more about industrial output.
In October, manufacturing activity stayed weak in the New York region, raising concern that the slowdown seen in the factory sector that started in June could be more than a temporary soft patch. The Empire State index fell below zero at negative 8.5 in October, only slightly better than the negative 8.8 in September, according to the Empire State manufacturing survey released Monday by the New York Federal Reserve. Read more about the Empire State index.
Against that backdrop, December silver SI1Z -0.23% shed 10 cents to $32.08 an ounce and December copper HG1Z -0.56% lost 2 cents to $3.39 a pound.
December palladium rose PA1Z +1.22% $6.55 to $627.10 an ounce. January platinum PL2F +0.99% advanced $14.50 to $1,569.40 an ounce.
