Bullishness Prevails; Precious Metals Seen as Big Winner

Updated from 5 a.m. EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Market sentiment for the second week in a row is bullish as investors kick off a new trading week, according to TheStreet.com RealMoney Barometer Survey.

As of 7:10 a.m. Monday, poll participants who were bullish tallied 580 votes, or 48.6% of the 1,193 total votes, while the bears had 419, or 35.1%, of the votes cast. Neutral tallied 190 votes, or 16.3%.

The precious metals sector, like the last two weeks, was viewed as the sector most likely to rise, according to participants in the poll, garnering nearly 20% of the votes cast. Commercial banks placed second.

Gold for December delivery at 7 a.m. was trading at $1,128.90 an ounce, up $12.20, after soaring to a record intraday high of $1,133.50 earlier at the Comex division on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It settled Friday up $10.10 an ounce to $1,116.70.

The weaker dollar and the belief that global interest rates will remain low for the near future have enticed buyers of the precious metal. Deutsche Bank analysts said last week that gold prices will continue to rise, but at a slower pace.

Commercial banks were looked upon, yet again, as the sector most likely to see declines this week.

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