Gold Futures Drift Ahead

As for geopolitics, a firming factor for bullion prices was news that talks aimed at disarming a nuclear North Korea have stalled. Demand for gold tends to rise in times of geopolitical uncertainty, but this time it may turn out to have only transitory effects.

"This is classic negotiating behavior by Pyongyang," says Joe Brusuelas, chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal in New York. "What it means is that North Korea is close to making a deal and [is] now trying to extract the maximum amount of value at the last possible moment."

In the precious-metals patch, Golden Star Resources(GSS Quote) was popping 5.6% on news that the Littleton, Colo., miner started production at its Pampe gold project in Ghana.

Mining stalwarts Barrick Gold(ABX Quote) and Newmont Mining(NEM Quote) were ahead by about 0.5% in recent action.

In base metals, copper contracts were slightly up at $3.04 a pound on the Comex.

Metal refiners produced 1.5 million tons of copper in January, up almost 6% from a year ago, according to new data from the U.K.-based World Bureau of Metal Statistics. The organization estimates there was a negligible 6,000-ton metal surplus during the month, leaving the market roughly in balance.

Elsewhere, Prudential dinged shares of Canadian aluminum smelter Alcan(AL Quote) to an underweight rating from an overweight and slashed the stock price target to $48 a share from $60.

The broker also ratcheted down its rating on Alcoa(AA Quote), Alcan's U.S. counterpart, to a neutral rating from overweight and trimmed its target stock price to $38 from $41.

Shares of Alcan were dipping 0.5%, while Alcoa was off 1.7% in recent activity.