Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures on Monday ended at their best in more than a week, tracking global equity markets on optimism about Europe�s debt crisis and hopes strong sales over the U.S. holiday weekend will help prop the economy and perhaps translate into more jewelry demand. Gold for December delivery rose $25.10, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,710.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the metal�s best settlement since Nov. 18. �Gold is simply getting some tailwind from the euro,� said Jim Steel, a precious metals analyst with HSBC in New York.

Investors have become more optimistic about the region after reports European officials have made some progress in reining in sovereign-debt crisis and arriving at a plan for their bailout fund. The strong sales over Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S. also fed hopes that perhaps gold and silver would benefit from increased jewelry demand, Steel added. In the meantime, gold continued to behave more like a risky asset than a safe-haven, analysts at Commerzbank AG wrote in a note. This is thanks �to the behavior of futures-market players who feel less pressure to sell as their risk aversion declines,� they said. See full story.