Gold Futures Advance

Back in gold, one chart watcher sees a consolidation period ahead, at least for a while.

"Gold remains quite heavily oversold here," writes Clive Maund, a Chile-based technical analyst, in a recent report. "Barring a sudden [U.S. military] attack on Iran, it is considered likely that it will remain around current levels for some weeks yet."

Turning to the miners, Barrick Gold(ABX Quote) is said to be mulling a bid for Newmont Mining(NEM Quote), according to a report in Business Week.

Shares of Newmont were rallying 1.9%, while those of Barrick were off fractionally.

As for base metals, copper contracts edged up 2 cents to $3.01 a pound on the Comex. Shares of miners Phelps Dodge(PD Quote) and Southern Copper(PCU Quote) were mixed.