NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures Wednesday rose for a fourth-consecutive session on demand for safe-haven assets, while silver climbed by more than 4% as the metal continued to rebound after its recent lows.
The most actively traded gold contract, for June delivery, ended $3.40, or 0.2%, higher, at $1,526.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Thinly traded May gold futures settled $3.40, or 0.2% higher, at $1,526.60 an ounce.
Worries about the ability of Europe's currency union to manage members' sovereign debt has sent investors looking for a refuge into gold recently.
"The ongoing themes in Greece and the rest of Europe keep making people look for a paperless currency," said Adam Klopfenstein, a broker with Lind-Waldock.
The yellow metal isn't as closely linked to industrial cycles as are some other commodities, and some investors buy gold on the belief that it holds its value well during turmoil in currencies or other markets.
Silver futures continued to rebound Wednesday, as traders bet that the sharp selloff at the beginning of the month pushed prices too low amid steady industrial demand for the metal. Futures had slipped from late-April highs above $49 a troy ounce down to as low as $32 an ounce, as Comex raised the cost of holding contracts and many commodities fell.
But investors have warmed to raw materials this week, pushing closely watched bellwethers such as copper and crude oil back above key psychological levels and lifting sentiment among silver traders.
Silver for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, ended $1.514, or 4.2%, higher, at $37.642 a troy ounce. May-delivery silver ended up $1.519, or 4.2%, at $37.640 a troy ounce.
Other precious metals traded in New York also rose Wednesday. July-delivery platinum was up 1.1% at $1,782 a troy ounce, and palladium for June delivery rose 1.2% to $744.20 an ounce.
By Matt Day
By Matt Day
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