RTRS: India copper futures edge higher on weak dollar
By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold hit another record high on Wednesday before falling back a bit as the dollar stabilized and global stocks flat, weighed by losses Europe.
Wall Street looked set to open higher. The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies, bucking its recent weak trend that has helped boost gold.
Investors continued their scramble for yield, lifting the Australian dollar to 14-month highs on the prospects for higher interest rates after Tuesday's tightening.
Gold trimmed some gains early but then rose as high as $1,048.20 an ounce, easily eclipsing Tuesday's $1,043.45 record. It was later around $1,042.
The metal has been driven higher in part by concerns that the dollar is losing favor, including potentially as the currency for settling oil trades.
Despite the headline figure, however, gold remains far below its inflation-adjust record from the 1980s.
Investor Jim Rogers, one of the biggest bulls during this decade's commodities rally, said he would stay clear of buying gold for now, although he predicted prices will continue to go up over the long term.
"Gold has hit a new high and I don't like to buy something at record prices unless there are extremely strong fundamental reasons," he said.
World equities as measured by MSCI, in the meantime, were little changed.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.3 percent. The index gained more than 2 percent on Tuesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Japan's Nikkei average closed 1.1 percent higher.
DOLLAR FIRMS
The dollar was slightly stronger against a basket of major currencies although higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar remained in favor.
"With the view that the low interest rate policy in the U.S. will likely be around for a while, an abundant supply of dollars is flowing into higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar and emerging market currencies," said Kazuyuki Kato, treasury department manager at Mizuho Trust & Banking.
The greenback came under pressure on Tuesday after a report of forex diversification by oil-producing countries. Some of the countries later denied such a move.
