Gold Prices Seesaw As Dollar Rises

Gold prices swung between losses and gains Tuesday, slightly feeling the pinch from strength in the U.S. dollar following the market’s best weekly gain in a month.

Gold for August delivery  was off 10 cents at $1,387.40 an ounce in electronic trading, but had traded as high as $1,396.40 an ounce, according to data from FactSet.

Floor trading, which was closed for Monday’s U.S. Memorial Day holiday, will resume Tuesday.

Gold prices on Tuesday came off stronger levels as the U.S. dollar rose against key rivals, including the Japanese yen  .The yen over the past three sessions has gained against the dollar on concerns about rising yields on Japanese government bond. The Bank of Japan has been trying to push yields lower to aid economic growth.

The ICE dollar index  , which measures the greenback’s movement against six other major currencies, on Tuesday rose to 83.777 from 83.700 on Monday.

Dollar-denominated gold and other commodities usually move lower when the dollar rises as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies to buy.

Gold prices last week climbed about 1.6%, the best weekly performance since the week that ended April 26. The move came in part on safe-haven bets after global equities weakened and the dollar fell in the wake of hints by the Federal Reserve that it’s considering slowing the pace of its bond-buying program.

Still, gold futures have fallen nearly 6% this month.

Money managers as of May 21 had cut their net-long position by 9% to 35,686 futures and options, the least since July 2007, according to data compiled by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Holdings of short contracts climbed 6.7% to a record 79,416.

Elsewhere in the metals market Tuesday, July silver  fell 7 cents, or 0.3%, to $22.43 an ounce. July copper   declined 1 cent, or 0.3%, to $3.284 a pound.

June palladium futures   rose $7.15, or 1%, to $733.60 an ounce, while July platinum fell $4, or 0.3%, to $1,447.90 an ounce.

Marketwatch