MW: Gold futures are little changed as U.S. dollar falls vs. rivals
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures traded little changed near $1,055 an ounce Monday, as the market looked for direction following gold's recent strong gains.
Gold for December delivery edged down 80 cents to $1,055.60 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.
Earlier, the contract nudged to an intraday high of $1,058 an ounce.
Gold "for the moment looks set to hold ground in the $1,040-$1,065 area, as traders continue to track dollar movements and broad risk sentiment," said James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, in a note to clients.
In the currency markets, the dollar fell to a fresh 14-month low against the euro. A Chinese central-bank researcher called for moving some of the country's massive foreign reserves into euro and yen holdings.
The dollar index (DXY 75.31, -0.14, -0.19%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, edged down 0.2% to 75.314. See Currencies.
The dollar and gold have a very strong inverse relationship: When the U.S. currency weakens, gold prices tend to rise.
Gold futures rose 0.5% last week, posting a fourth weekly gain.
"While gold and platinum both have favorable fundamentals, markets are waiting for a catalyst to push prices higher," wrote analysts at Credit Suisse in a note to clients. "A new bout of U.S. dollar weakness could provide such an impulse."
Also on Globex, January platinum futures fell $4.80 to $1,364.70 an ounce.
Meanwhile, December copper rose 3 cents, or 1%, to $3.07 a pound and December silver stood unchanged at $17.72 an ounce.
