Comex Gold Futures Rise On Dollar Weakness

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures gained ground Tuesday on fund buying as the U.S. dollar weakened.

June gold rose $10.40 to settle at $923.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"A pullback in the U.S. dollar prompted some fresh gold buying overnight and brought the metal back toward the $920 area," Kitco Bullion Dealers analyst Jon Nadler said in a research note.

George Gero, vice president with RBC Capital Markets Global Futures, noted an early increase in open interest in December gold.

"That shows longer-term interest in the market," he said. However, funds may put sell stops in if the metal can't get through the $925-$930 area.

"They think it's going up," he said. "The funds are back."

Gold was meeting resistance at $926, with the next levels at $933 and $949, said Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with FuturePath Trading.

Silver futures settled sharply higher on support from a lower dollar and chart-based trades.

Comex July silver gained 30.5 cents to settle at $14.215 an ounce.

The metal had a "topside breakout" as buy stops were triggered in the $14.05 to $14.10 area, said Sterling Smith, vice president with FuturesOne.

"We rattled some shorts there," he said.

Platinum futures followed gold higher on shakiness in equities and higher oil prices.

"People are getting back into the safe-haven mindset," a trader said.

Nymex July platinum gained $11.40 to settle at $1,132.10 an ounce while June palladium on the exchange lost $2.55 to settle at $234.45 an ounce.

Profit-taking may have been the culprit in palladium's decline, the trader said.