Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures notched a seven-week low on Tuesday, as the dollar rose and stocks came off highs on reports Germany was against the idea of raising the ceiling of the permanent rescue fund for the euro area. That supplanted earlier good news about euro zone�s bond auctions, which had caused gold to trade mildly higher earlier on. Gold for February delivery declined $5.10, or 0.3%, to $1,663.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was gold�s lowest settlement since Oct. 24. Copper tracked gold lower but silver, platinum, and palladium held to early gains. On Monday, the yellow metal tumbled $48.60, or 2.8%, as part of a broader market selloff.

Gold has behaved more like a commodity than a safe-haven investment for most of the second half of the year. With each passing headline about the euro zone�s sovereign-debt crisis, investors have flocked to the dollar or to U.S. Treasurys instead of the metal. Some positive headlines out of Europe on Tuesday provided a modicum of support for prices, however. The Spanish Treasury sold more short-term paper than it had planned at an auction, Europe�s bailout fund was able to sell bonds with positive demand, and a German gauge of economic sentiment broke a nine-month downward trend. See full story.