LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Gold prices gained ground on Tuesday, building on the prior session’s mild advance, while silver continued to struggle near levels not seen in four years.
At last check, gold for December delivery GCZ4, +0.02% was up 50 cents to $1,218.40 an ounce. December silver SIZ4, -0.39% dropped another 10 cents, or 0.6%, to $17.67 an ounce.
A day earlier, a weak stock market helped gold to end its four-session losing streak, though silver caught no lift. Read: Gold crashes and is now tarnished for good.
Regardless of this mild bounce, there’s no reason to own gold in dollar terms at this point, according to commodities trader Dennis Gartman of the Gartman letter.
“Owning gold has been just a treacherous, boring, nasty trade that just keeps losing money for anybody who buys it,” he told CNBC in an interview. “There will be a time when inflationary pressures will once again exhibit themselves, but that time is not now.”
A mostly quiet day for economic numbers is on tap for Tuesday, but the FHFA house price index for July and the Richmond Fed survey of manufacturing activity for September will both be released.
Elsewhere in metals trading, December palladium PAZ4, +0.54% rose $2.35, or 0.3%, to $805.50 an ounce, while October platinum PLV4, +0.39% added $1.30 to $1,331.50 an ounce. High-grade copper for December delivery HGZ4, +0.23% tacked on 2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.06 a pound.
