Gold Prices Escape a Higher Dollar
NEW YORK (
) --
were rising Monday, bucking a stronger U.S. dollar.
Gold for April delivery was rising $1.50 to $1,103.20 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have traded as high as $1,108.70 and as low as $1,101. The
was adding 0.60% to $80.32. Spot gold was rising $3, according to Kitco's gold index.
Gold's Tug of War
Gold is seeing solid buying around the $1,100 level, which is proving a support for prices. Also. a better-than-expected 0.1% rise in industrial production in February was helping gold tick higher. But upside is tempered as investors worry about possible rate-tightening in China and in the U.S.
An end to free money in China, often credited with jump-starting the global economy, would hurt investment demand for gold. Gold iinvestors are also looking to the
Federal Reserve's
Tuesday meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee to see if there will be any changes to U.S. monetary policy.
Also weighing on gold is sovereign debt fears. Although the European Union has agreed to a multibillion-euro bailout for Greece through loans or loan guarantees, there are other countries at risk. Reportedly,
reaffirmed the credit ratings of Spain, U.S., the U.K., France and Germany but said that going forward the governments' ability to manage rising debt will be a deciding factor in maintaining their triple-A status.
Spain was cited as being the country closest to "the Aaa/Aa demarcation line, which would prompt us to reassess its rating," according to
Reuters
. Global monetary instability decreases investors' appetite for riskier commodities. Although many analysts believe that in the long term, fiscal turmoil will boost gold's appeal as a safe haven asset.
"We're seeing both good buying and some overhead resistance putting some pressure on
gold," says James Turk, founder of GoldMoney. "But my expectation is I think we are going to see strength over the course of this week and we'll probably end the week up at the $1,140 area, which is where significant overhead resistance rests."
were rising 1 cents to $17.06 while copper was down 4 cents to $3.34.
Mining stocks, a more leveraged way to
, were mixed.
Barrick Gold
(ABX)
was slipping 0.72% to $38.78 while
Newmont Mining
(NEM) - Get Report
was down 0.98% to $49.55. Other large cap miners
Kinross Gold
(KGC) - Get Report
and
Goldcorp
(GG)
were slightly lower at $17.53 and $38.87, respectively.
Shares of
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold
(FCX) - Get Report
were sliding 0.89% to $79.81, while
Yamana Gold
(AUY) - Get Report
was giving up 1.79% to $9.88.
Shares of the popular physically backed ETF,
SPDR Gold Shares
(GLD) - Get Report
were higher by 0.19% to $108.16.
>>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.
