Gold, Platinum Close Higher
NEW YORK--Gold futures edged higher Monday while platinum again outpaced gold's gains as precious metals drew strength from a weaker dollar in a quiet trading day.</br></br>The most active gold contract, for April delivery, rose $11.50, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,667.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.</br></br>A weaker dollar, which slipped versus the euro in late morning trade, fanned demand for dollar-denominated gold. Gold is priced in dollars and tends to attract more foreign buyers when the greenback falters, as the metal appears less expensive to these buyers in their home currency terms.</br></br>Gold prices also caught a boost as some investors, who had made bets on lower prices, re-entered the market as buyers in order to cover those previous sell orders, known as shorts.</br></br>"There were a lot of 'short-term shorts'--latecomers to the short party. It looked like the market might break down technically and didn't, and that's bringing out some modest demand," said Bill O'Neill, a principal with Logic Advisors.