Dollar Weakness Bolsters Gold

Turning to the gold patch, the Market Vectors Gold Miners(GDX Quote) ETF, which tracks a basket of precious-metals miners, was rallying 1.5% recently.

Shares of Eldorado Gold(EGO Quote) were rising 2.7%, while Golden Star Resources(GSS Quote) was up 3.2%.

Agnico-Eagle Mines(AEM Quote) saw its shares slip 1.8% after the company announced it would acquire 100% of Cumberland Resources(CLG Quote) in an all-stock deal. Shares of Cumberland were jumping more than 25% in recent action.

As for base metals, March-dated copper contracts were down a penny at $2.58 a pound, and the May contract closed at $2.59, also off a penny. The open interest in the May-dated futures contract now exceeds that of the March one, and so the latter date becomes the benchmark.

Shares of miner Southern Copper(PCU Quote) were adding 1.1% at about $68. Notably, the stock is up from around $50 at the beginning of the year.