Gold Futures Creep Ahead

Browne also highlights that China was planning to invest a portion of its reserves in a diversified portfolio of assets and it's possible that some smaller sum might be used to buy gold.

The greenback traded down on the news. One dollar was recently buying 117.155 yen, down from 117.4 yen late Monday. The euro was worth $1.3311 vs. $1.3298 previously. The value of the U.S. currency and that of gold tend to move inversely with each other.

Elsewhere, in the official sector, the European Central bank says it sold 256 million euros of gold and receivables last week, or a little more than 16 tons.

In the precious-metals patch, one chart watcher sees some potential upside for shares of Peruvian precious metals miner Compania de Minas Buenaventura(BVN Quote).

The stock "has been building a big base since late 2003, is working toward the top of a range in force," writes John Roque, a technical analyst at Natexis Bleichroeder in New York. He suggests a technical price target is $44 and cites improving momentum indicators, as well as the fact that the stock is trading above its 50- and 200-day moving averages.

Shares of Buenaventura were recently dipping 0.5% at about $30.

As for base metals, Comex copper contracts tacked on a penny to close at $3.03 a pound.

Elsewhere in metals, Banc of America Securities pinned a buy rating on Titanium Metals(TIE Quote) with a price target of $41 a share. Traders were bidding up the stock 2.6% at about $35 in recent action.