Gold Prices: Relief Rally in Futures
NEW YORK (
) --
were rising Monday on the back of a weaker U.S. dollar.
Gold for April delivery was adding $13.30 to $1,066.10 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have traded as high as $1,074.30 and as low as $1,061.80. The
was slipping 0.21% to $80.27.
The dollar came under pressure after
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
said over the weekend that although a double-dip recession was unlikely, recovery will be slow and uneven. A weaker dollar increased gold's appeal as an alternative asset, as bargain hunters bought the asset after last week's selloff.
However, gold's uptick could be short lived, as investors stay cautious over lingering overseas debt fears in Greece, Spain and Portugal. The
announced that member nations would continue to provide the stimulus to which they remain "mutually committed" but were looking ahead for strategies to end the flow of free money. Continued stimulus could put short-term pressure on the euro, give the dollar support and weigh on gold prices.
"
Monday's rally was a relief that nothing negative came from G7 meeting," wrote George Gero, vice president of global futures at RBC Capital Markets in his morning metals report. "But convincing heavy, new buying may not appear until we break $1,125 on the upside." Currently, gold prices are testing the $1,030 level and are finding resistance around the $1,080 area.
were adding 27 cents to $15.10 while copper was up 4 cents to $2.90.
Mining stocks, a more leveraged way to
, were struggling along with broader equities.
Barrick Gold
(ABX)
was down 3.21% to $34.79 while another large-cap miner,
Newmont Mining
(NEM) - Get Report
, was slipping 3.61% to $44.67.
Kinross Gold
(KGC) - Get Report
and
Goldcorp
(GG)
were down over 2% at $16.74 and $34.57, respectively.
Shares of
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold
(FCX) - Get Report
were down 0.44% to $70.17, while
Yamana Gold
(AUY) - Get Report
was down 3.44% at $10.12.
The popular physically backed ETF,
SPDR Gold Shares
(GLD) - Get Report
was falling 0.35% to $104.38. The ETF added 1.83 tons on Friday for the first time this year.
>>Slideshow: How to Invest in Gold
>>More stories on gold investing
--
Written by Alix Steel in New York
.
Alix joined TheStreet.com TV in February 2007. Previously, she held positions in film and theater production, management, and legal administration. Alix has a degree in communications and theater from Northwestern University.