Gold Rises Amid Iran Tension

The dollar was recently buying 120.60 yen, down slighly from 121.09 late Friday. One euro was buying $1.3171, up from $1.3166 previously. The value of gold and the dollar tend to move in opposite directions.

Turning to the precious-metals patch, BMO Capital Markets dinged Meridian Gold(MDG Quote) with a downgrade to a market-perform rating from outperform, sending the stock lower by 2.2% recently.

Merrill Lynch slashed its 2007 earnings forecast for Newmont Mining(NEM Quote) to $1.55 a share from $2.35 on the basis of company guidance indicating higher expenses this year. But the stock was barely changed in midmorning action.

Prudential raised its price target on Barrick Gold(ABX Quote) to $30 a share from $28 and reiterated a neutral rating, helping boost the stock 0.6%.

As for base metals, Comex copper contracts were rising about 3 cents at $2.88 a pound, after brisk activity in Shanghai overnight.

Elsewhere, nickel was on the move, with benchmark contracts for delivery in three months surpassing $41,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange. Dwindling inventories have traders worried about supply. LME warrants indicate that only about 2,000 tons of the metal are available for delivery.