MW: Gold futures climb to high near $1,200 an ounce
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures climbed to a record near $1,200 an ounce on Tuesday, as the dollar weakened and rebounding appetite for risk drew buyers into the precious-metals market.
Gold for December delivery rose as high as $1,199.30 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex, marking a record.
The front-month contract gained $13, or 1.1%, to $1,194.10 an ounce in recent trading.
Gold futures gained 0.6% on Monday, marking one of the best months in 10 years.
"Equity and broader risk sentiment has been more upbeat this morning, with markets buoyed by solid manufacturing data from China and the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to increase interest rates for a third straight month," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London.
Australia's central bank raised its policy cash rate Tuesday, as widely expected, by 0.25 percentage point to 3.75%, marking its third rate increase since September.
In China, a pair of much-watched indexes of manufacturing activity showed continuing expansion in November, adding to the view that recovery in the world's most populous nation remains on track. Read more.
While gold is traditionally seen as a safe-haven investment, it has lately been trading as a risk asset, meaning that it has tended to gain when stocks and other commodities are trading higher.
The precious metal also has a very strong inverse relationship with the dollar. When the dollar falls, gold prices tend to rise.
The dollar index (DXY 74.53, -0.35, -0.46%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, fell 0.5% to 74.514 in recent trading.
Also on Globex, other metals futures posted gains. Silver rose 18 cents, or 1%, to $18.68 an ounce and December palladium gained $14.65, or 4%, to $378.20 an ounce.
