LONDON: Gold prices rose 0.7 percent in Europe on Monday after news that Dubai had averted a debt default sharpened appetite for risk, pressuring the dollar and boosting higher-yielding currencies such as the euro.
Spot gold was bid at $1,121.60 an ounce at 1527 GMT, against $1,113.85 late in New York on Friday. US gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.30 to $1,121.20 an ounce.
Gold is awaiting fresh direction from the wider markets after posting a sharp fall last week, which depressed prices nearly 10 percent from the record $1,226.10 an ounce they hit in early December. Prices were supported on Monday by weakness in the dollar versus the euro as fears over Dubai’s debt eased, though the US currency recovered some early losses.
Non-commercial net long US gold futures positions hit record highs recently but a weekly report by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed they fell to 254,429 lots in the week to Dec 8 from 259,064 lots. Silver was bid at $17.22 an ounce against $17.11, tracking gains in gold. Platinum was at $1,438.50 an ounce against $1,426, while palladium was at $364.50 against $357.50.
Copper rises: Copper prices rose on Monday after the announcement of a $10 billion bailout for debt-laden Dubai boosted sentiment and weighed on the dollar, making dollar-priced metals cheaper for non-US investors.
Aluminium meanwhile broke above $2,300 a tonne to hit a fresh 14-month high, partly due to a scarcity of material. Benchmark copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at $6,920 a tonne in official rings from a close of $6,835 on Friday. All the same, LME stocks of copper continue to rise, indicating demand outside China remains weak. Latest data showed copper stocks rose 1,075 tonnes to total 467,150, their highest since mid-April.
Among other industrial metals, aluminium, used in transport and packaging, traded at $2,282 from $2,275, having earlier hit $2,305, its highest since mid-October last year. Zinc traded at $2,318 from $2,298, while battery material lead traded at $2,328 from $2,301. Tin was last bid flat at $15,200, while stainless-steel ingredient nickel was last bid at $16,725 from $16,650. LME nickel stocks rose 912 tones to total 145,758, less than 10,000 tonnes short of the record high of 151,254 seen in November, 1994. reuters
