MW: Gold fluctuates between small gains and losses
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures on Tuesday wavered between small gains and losses, a day after rallying 1.5%, as slight advances for other commodities as well as equities supported the metal.
Gold for December delivery GC1Z +0.06% declined $2.40, or 0.1%, to trade at $1,708.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“The trade remains extremely choppy while intraday volatility is also exaggerated in thin trading volumes ... despite gold’s still fairly strong correlation to the broader equity and commodity market, market participants remain reluctant to liquidate in large volumes amid ongoing uncertainty” about the euro zone, analysts at VTB Capital said in a note to clients.
Gold has tracked U.S. stocks and other raw materials such as oil in recent months, losing some of its safe-haven allure as the crisis in Europe deepened and investors fled to U.S. bonds and the dollar.
The dollar traded lower in relation to major rivals, with the dollar index DXY -0.16% down to 79.070 from 79.236 in North American trading late Monday.
A lower dollar is beneficial to commodities as it makes them cheaper to holders of other currencies. Read more on currencies.
On Tuesday, Italy sold 7.5 billion euros ($10 billion) worth of bonds, but paid more in doing so.
Other metals were mixed, with silver trading lower and copper higher. December silver SI1Z -0.84% rose 33 cents, or 1%, to $31.83 an ounce. December copper HG1Z +0.05% was flat at $3.36 a pound after posting small gains.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
