Gold Gets Boost From Weaker Dollar

Losses for the U.S. dollar and easing worries over the Chinese economy helped push metal-futures prices higher in electronic trade Monday.

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Comex gold for August delivery  gained $12.30, or 1%, to $1,289.90 an ounce, building on its 5.4% gain last week on the New York Mercantile Exchange, despite its having lost ground Friday.

Likewise, September silver  added 24 cents, or 1.2%, to $20.04 an ounce.

A weaker U.S. dollar helped the advance, with the ICE dollar index  slipping to 82.903 from 82.997 late Friday. A fall in the greenback tends to help gold and other dollar-denominated commodities, as it makes them less expensive to holders of other currencies.

September copper  recovered to $3.16 a pound, where it had settled regular trade on Friday.

Copper had lost ground late last week after Chinese state media quoted Finance Minister Lou Jiwei as saying his nation’s growth would likely slow to 7% this year, missing the government’s 7.5% target.

However, the state-run Xinhua news agency later corrected the report to say Lou forecast 7.5% growth, and second-quarter gross domestic product data released Monday rose at 7.5%, boosting some assets.

“There was a minor sense of relief attached to the Chinese GDP result today, despite the result being in line with expectations. Some market participants had been bracing for a potentially worse result than the 7.5% growth rate, particularly given the negative rumblings over Chinese growth in recent times,” wrote CMC Markets senior trader Tim Waterer following the data release.

In other metals action, platinum for October delivery   added $10.60 or 0.8% to $1,417.50 an ounce, while sister metal palladium saw its September contract  climb $6.95, or 1%, to $729.85 an ounce.

Source : Marketwatch