Gold Breaks $1,100
NEW YORK (
) --
were rising Tuesday as the U.S. dollar continued to struggle.
Gold for April delivery was rallying $12.50 to $1,117.50 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have traded as high as $1,119.90 and as low as $1,099.50. The
was slipping 0.23% to $79.01.
Adding to dollar weakness was the news that the
held interest rates steady at 3.75% after most analysts predicted the central bank would raise rates. Lower global interest rates increase the likelihood of inflation which is bullish for gold prices as investors buy the precious metal as an alternative asset.
China Will Drive Gold Prices
"I think gold in the next week or so will trade between $1,100 and $1,145
an ounce," says Jeffrey Nichols, Managing Director of American Precious Metals Advisors. "Near $1,100 we've seen in the last week more buying coming from the Asian markets ... ahead of the Chinese New Year ...
which triggers buying not just of investment products but also jewelry."
were rising 8 cents to $16.74 while copper was up 1 cent to $3.09. Platinum and palladium were conservatively stronger at $1,579 and $443, respectively. Many analysts speculate if investment enthusiasm has tired out after the initial excitement over the first two U.S. physically backed platinum and palladium ETFs,
ETFS Physical Platinum
(PPLT) - Get Report
and
ETFS Physical Palladium
(PALL) - Get Report
.
Mining stocks, a more leveraged way to
, were mixed.
Barrick Gold
(ABX)
and
Newmont Mining
(NEM) - Get Report
were trading at $36.59 and $45.43, respectively. Other large cap miner
Kinross Gold
(KGC) - Get Report
was rising 2.18% to $17.30.
Yamana Gold
(AUY) - Get Report
was down 0.33% to $10.62.
Shares of
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold
(FCX) - Get Report
were higher by 0.98% to $72.29 after the stock was upgraded to buy at
Citigroup
.
Jim Cramer
on Mad Money Monday recommended
Southern Copper
(PCU)
over Freeport. The stock was rising 2.84% to $29.28.
Shares of the popular physically backed ETF,
SPDR Gold Shares
(GLD) - Get Report
were up 1.06% to $109.39.
>>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.











