Gold Gains on Cheap Pricing

Gold gains for a second straight day as traders view the asset as cheaply priced.
By Joe Deaux ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) --

Gold prices

were gaining for a second-straight session as cheap prices were encouraging buyers to enter the market.

Gold for August delivery at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was tacking on $10.90 to $1,245.80 an ounce. The

gold price

traded as high as $1,258.70 and as low as $1,232 an ounce, while the spot price was climbing $15.79.

Gold dropped 0.9% last week, highlighted by a nearly $40 drop on Friday, after a stronger-than-anticipated June jobs report and upward revisions to May and April figures sent investors to other asset classes.

Last week's dipping prices have appealed this week to traders who view the yellow metal as oversold, Mihir Dange, options trader at Grafite Capital said in an interview.

The

Federal Reserve's

policy-making minutes emerge Wednesday afternoon, and may add more color to where central bankers stand on the issue of tapering monetary stimulus.

The Fed currently is purchasing $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $45 billion in longer-term Treasuries on a per-month basis. Many analysts have said they anticipate the central bank to scale back those purchases beginning as early as September.

Michael Smith, president of T&K Futures and Options, is one analyst who said he's hearing more about September tapering, but he also said he sees the yellow metal receiving some price support as a safe-haven play in the near future due to growing unrest in Egypt.

Gold sometimes functions as an appealing store-of-value hedge against political and economic unrest.

Silver prices

for September delivery were up 12 cents to $19.16 an ounce, while the

U.S. dollar index

was up 0.57% to $84.68.

Gold mining stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday. Shares of

Eldorado Gold

(EGO) - Get Report

were rising 3.2%, while shares of

Gold Fields

(GFI) - Get Report

were posting a second-consecutive day of hefty gains by 3.1%.

Among volume leaders,

Barrick Gold

(ABX)

was up 2.2%.

Gold ETF

SPDR Gold Trust

(GLD) - Get Report

was increasing 1% to $120.75 a share, while

iShares Gold Trust

(IAU) - Get Report

was adding 0.92% to $12.13.

-- Written by Joe Deaux in New York.

>Contact by

Email

.

Follow @JoeDeaux

Loading ...