Gold futures closed with a minor gain after a much range-bound session, finding some support at lower levels to break out of their recent trading range but scored the highest settlement so far this month.
Gold holdings of SPDR gold trust, the largest ETF backed by the precious metal, declined to 1,236.73 tons, as on March 11.
Silver holdings of ishares silver trust, the largest ETF backed by the metal, increased to 10,646.48 tons, as on March 4.
The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, fell to 82.601, down from 82.900 in late North American trading on Friday.
Japanese yen carved out a fresh 3-1/2 year low versus the greenback and fell to a 4-1/2 year trough on the Australian dollar, as investors reacted to a media report that the Bank of Japan might deliver bold stimulus sooner than expected.
Copper & other metals declined in early trade session, as disappointing data from China and concerns about Italy dented risk appetite while a strong dollar pressured prices, but demand for metals from Chinese consumers helped erase
losses.
Copper futures for May delivery closed down by 0.5% at $3.4925 on the COMEX division of the NYMEX.
Zinc prices fell to a 15-week low, after industrial output in China posted the weakest start to a year since 2009. Zinc stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose 1% to 1.21mn tons, the highest since Jan. 31, data from the bourse showed.
Crude oil futures recovered from early losses, scoring a minor gain to close above $92 per barrel, as support from a weaker dollar and rising US equities offset some concerns over demand following a weak round of Chinese economic data.
Brent crude oil prices declined, pressured by disappointing economic data from one of the major oil consumer China, while technical support and a pullback in US dollar limited losses and helped US light sweet crude settle slightly higher.
Natural gas futures traded positively on NYMEX, though off earlier 6-week highs after investors priced in bullish supply data and frosty weather reports into trading and softened a multi-session rally.
