Gold News & Info

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures settled marginally higher Wednesday, though earlier gains were eroded by a stronger U.S. dollar, mostly due to Japan's deepening nuclear crisis and tensions in Bahrain. Gold for April delivery gained $3.30, or 0.2%, to end at $1,396.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing below $1,400 for the second consecutive session. Earlier in the day, gold had traded as high as $1,406.60 an ounce.

The dollar added to gains as the session progressed, while losses steepened for stocks and other major assets. The dollar index, which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, recently traded 0.5% higher at 76.785. "All in all, gold held pretty well," said Charles Nedoss, a senior market strategist with Olympus Futures in Chicago. "As long as we keep above $1,380, the market looks good to me." Anxiety about Japan's nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and ongoing concerns about Bahrain, Libya and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa continued to support gold, he added. See full story.