Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

New York— Gold futures finished higher, though off morning highs, on Monday, tracking a rally in stocks on Wall Street but with a volatile dollar keeping the precious metal in check. On Sunday, heightened geopolitical tensions after Iran test-fired short-range missiles had failed to provide much of a boost to gold, with traders keen to test support levels at around $990 an ounce, according to Dublin, Ireland-based firm GoldCore.

Still, after testing intraday lows at $986, gold for December delivery, rose $2.50, or 0.25%, to finish at $994.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It earlier rose to an intraday high of $998.0 an ounce. Last week, gold fell 1.9% as investors digested mixed U.S. economic data and stocks fell on Wall Street. But with the economic calendar empty on Monday, three separate merger deals helped stocks rally, with the S&P 500 Index gaining 1.7% in recent action. "The dollar has slipped on the back of surprisingly buoyant Wall Street performance," analysts at Action Economics said in a note. See full story.