By Barbara Kollmeyer and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Gold prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday as bargain hunters waded into the beaten-down market and a fresh piece of data pointed to difficulties for the U.S. economy.
Gold for June delivery GCM3 +1.38% climbed $17.70, or 1.3%, to $1,426.70 an ounce in U.S. trading, erasing Tuesday’s decline of $12.40, or 0.9%.
The fall on Tuesday was gold’s first in four sessions, with prices for the precious metal hurt after disappointing data on manufacturing data in China,a rally in equities, and a stronger U.S. dollar.
Orders for durable goods posted their biggest drop since March. U.S. stocks opened mixed despite some upbeat earnings results.
Gold prices, rocked this month, are on track for a roughly 12% drop, and analysts are pointing to declines in the metal’s holding among exchange-traded funds and lower gold-price forecasts as factors behind the recent selloff.
Goldman Sachs on Tuesday closed its recommendation for clients to “short” gold, telling them to exit out of those bets on lower gold prices. The investment bank on April 10 cut its short- and long-term gold forecasts as prices approached bear-market territory.
Other metals prices moved higher Wednesday. May copper futures HGK3 +2.15% rose 6 cents, or 2%, to $3.17 a pound, wiping out Tuesday’s drop of 1.2%. May silver SIK3 +1.44% rose 37 cents, or 1.6%, to $23.18 an ounce, cutting into a drop of 2.2% in the previous session.
July platinum futures PLN3 +0.82% advanced $11.90, or 0.8%, to $1,429.60 an ounce and palladium for June delivery PAM3 -0.10% fell 50 cents to $672.20 an ounce.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Follow her on Twitter @MWBarbaraKollmeyer.
Carla Mozee is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter @MWMozee.
