Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures overcame a weak start Monday to settle higher as investors looked past Ireland�s bailout package and continued to worry about the fiscal fitness of peripheral European countries. Gold for February delivery, the most active contract, added $3.20, or 0.2%, to $1,367.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It earlier traded as low as $1,354.50 an ounce. Gold has closed lower in the past two sessions. Silver also settled higher after starting the day lower, and copper ended flat. A rising dollar, meanwhile, put a lid on commodities prices.

European authorities on Sunday approved a $112.5 billion aid package for Ireland. The bailout, however, didn�t erase concerns about the financial viability of other peripheral euro- zone countries such as Portugal and Spain. The cost of insuring government bonds issued by those countries rose Monday to record levels. �The focus is shifting from Ireland [and] people will be looking at Portugal, Spain, and so forth,� said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London. �The situation in Europe is not getting much better.� See full story.