Gold prices rose Monday, buttressed by the metal's gains overseas and a weaker U.S. dollar.
Elsewhere, industrial metals prices mostly advanced, while agriculture futures fell. Energy prices were mixed at midday.
Gold continued to climb out of its late-June trough of $638 an ounce, with the August contract adding $8.90 an ounce to $663.70 in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar edged lower against the euro, which lent support to gold. The metal often moves opposite from the dollar on the assumption that investors will shift assets as they seek so-called safer havens for their funds.
"In Japan, you had a three-week market high this morning and that pulled the markets up," said George Gero, vice president of RBC Capital Markets Global Futures. That combined with "very high energy prices and a minefield everywhere you look in the geopolitical arena, it's certainly no surprise the metals are moving higher."
Gero noted that a move above $665 would be a bullish signal to traders and could spark additional gains in gold. Other precious metals tailed gold higher.
Meanwhile, copper prices climbed as the London Metal Exchange posted its largest outflow of inventory in more than a month and as workers at a major Chilean mine prepared to strike, Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said in a daily report.
Workers were set to strike Monday at Chile's Collahuasi copper mine -- one of the world's largest -- after government-mediated negotiations broke down on Friday, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The mine is jointly owned by Xstrata PLC and Anglo American PLC. Management has formally offered a 3.2 percent pay hike; the miners are demanding an 8 percent raise plus other benefits.
Nymex copper rose 6.55 cents to $3.66 a pound in midday trading.
In Chicago, agriculture futures sagged amid forecasts for rain in the Midwest.
"If we get the weather that's forecast for the next week, and then a cooling, we'll be right at the front door of pollination and in very good shape," said DTN analyst Gary Wilhelmi.
December corn fell 6.75 cents to $3.4525 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybean and wheat prices slumped in sympathy.
In the energy market, oil traders appeared to take some profits from Friday's rise of $1 a barrel, but reports of violence in Nigeria's oil-producing region underpinned prices. Gunmen attacked an oil facility overnight and seized two foreigners, private security contractors said. In a separate incident over the weekend, two senior Nigerian employees of Royal Dutch Shell PLC were being held hostage.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 49 cents to $72.32 a barrel on the Nymex. Gasoline futures climbed, adding 1.64 cents to $2.326 a gallon.
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