Markets: News  

Gold settles at highest since mid-June

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures closed higher Monday, after trading in a tight price range as investors awaited potential action from policy makers, while platinum prices scored a third straight session gain.

Gold futures for December delivery (GCZ2) settled at $1,623 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $3.60, or 0.2%. That was the highest close for futures prices since mid-June, according to FactSet. They moved between a low of $1,611.80 and a high of $1,624.50 on Monday.

Prices continued to trade in a tight range amid a lack of major news from the U.S. or Europe, said Chintan Karnani, chief analyst at Insignia Consultants in New Delhi.

Also, technical traders are "cautious as long as gold does not break past [the] $1,632-$1,637 zone convincingly" on Comex, he said.

October platinum futures (PLV2) , meanwhile, rose $25.10, or 1.7%, to end at $1,498.20 an ounce after touching an intraday low of $1,461. It closed at the highest since early May following a rally last week amid violence at a mine in South Africa. Read about the Lonmin PLC mining dispute.

"Platinum aside, the precious metals remain rudderless ahead of Wednesday's Fed minutes and the raft of euro meetings due later this week," said Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault.

"But next Monday marks a long weekend in London, and the end of the summer holidays," he said. "That typically marks the end of gold's summer doldrums too."

Political drive

Analysts at Commerzbank said Monday that the gold market this week is likely to be "driven predominantly by political factors."

"For example, several rounds of talks are due to take place between Germany's Chancellor [Angela] Merkel, French President [François] Hollande, Greek Prime Minister [Antonis] Samaras and Eurogroup President [Jean-Claude] Juncker," they wrote.

Samaras is reportedly expected to ask for a two-year extension to Greece's austerity program agreed as part of the indebted country's second bailout. Get ready for more 'Grexit' speculation.

Among other metals, silver was a standout, with the metal for September delivery (SIU2) adding 59 cents, or 2.1% to $28.59 an ounce, its highest since mid-June.

"Silver has a mini double bottom around $27.50, which is why it is finding support at lower prices," said Karnani.

However, September silver on Comex needs to break past $28.65 for further gains, he said. "Failure of silver to break past $28.65 this week will result in a fall to $27.35 and $26.40 before the next leg higher."

September copper (HGU2) declined by 5 cents, or 1.4%, to $3.37 a pound, while palladium for the same month (PAU2) added $2.60, or 0.4%, to $607.70 an ounce.