Sector Snap: Gold Miners Soar On Record Prices

NEW YORK (AP) — Record gold prices in New York trading Tuesday sent shares of precious metals miners soaring.

A faltering dollar helped kick up the price of gold. Commodities such as precious metals and oil are often used as a hedge against inflation and a weakening dollar. A sliding greenback also makes the commodities priced in dollars cheaper for foreign investors.

Gold for December delivery soared to a record $1,045 an ounce in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices closed Monday at $1,017.80 an ounce. Prices for silver and platinum also rose.

The dollar's fall was linked to a report in a British newspaper, the Independent, which said that secret meetings were taking place between oil-producing countries and China, Russia, Japan and France. These talks were aimed at ending the pricing of crude in dollars, the report said, and moving instead to using a basket of currencies that included the Japanese yen, Chinese yuan and the 16-nation euro, as well as gold.

The dollar sank on that report, down 0.6 percent at midday against a basket of currencies that includes the yen and euro, even though officials from several governments denied any meetings taking place. Rising risk appetite due to Australia boosting its interest rate also helped propel markets and commodity prices.