By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures extended gains in electronic trading on Tuesday, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar.
Gold for June delivery GCM2 +0.07% added $8.80, or 0.5%, trade at $1,652.70 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
The rise extended a 0.9% jump notched in the North American session on Monday after a disappointing U.S. jobs report and caution ahead of corporate earnings season supported demand for gold.
At the same time the dollar softened, with the ICE dollar index DXY +0.11% reaching 79.69 in Asian trading hours, down from 79.759 recorded in late trading on Monday. Read more on currencies.
The wider metals complex tracked gold higher during Asian trading hours.
May copper HGK2 +0.32% added 3 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.75 a pound. Silver for May delivery SIK2 -0.01% gained 26 cents, or 0.8%, to $31.78 an ounce.
July platinum PLN2 -0.49% advanced $10.50, or 0.7%, to $1,628.70 an ounce, while palladium for June delivery PAM2 -0.18% put on $8.10, or 1.3%, to $651.90 an ounce.
Anne-Laure Tremblay, precious metals strategist at BNP Paribas forecast silver, platinum and palladium will trade higher in line with gold through 2012 and 2013.
“Silver is in large supply surplus but should follow gold higher, given its strong positive correlation with the metal, although the downside risks here are particularly pronounced,” Tremblay wrote in a research report.
“Platinum also faces a large supply surplus….[and] supply issues in South Africa will provide additional support to the price in 2012,” she said.
“Palladium’s balance should tilt back into deficit in 2012, and we expect the price to increasingly reflect this,” the report added.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
