On Monday, gold futures rallied following global equity markets on optimism about Europe’s debt crisis resolution and hope Black Friday strong sales will help prop the U.S. economy.
Gold for December delivery added $25.10, or 1.5%, to end the day at $1,710.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the yellow metal’s best settlement in more than a week.
Other precious metals also traded higher, with December silver up $1.09, or 3.5%, to $32.11 an ounce. December copper rose 10 cents, or 3.1%, to $3.37 per ounce.
Investors have become more optimistic after reports in the media suggested European officials have made some progress in reining in sovereign-debt crisis.
The strong sales over the Black Friday week in the U.S. also fed optimism that precious metals would benefit from increased jewelry demand.
Gold has largely tracked stock movements in recent weeks, as safety-minded investors have preferred other assets such as U.S. bonds and cash.
The rally in gold prices today came as the dollar index , which tracks the performance of the currency against a basket of other major currencies, dropped to 79.222 from 79.688 in late North American trading on Friday. Dollar weakness is a boost to dollar-denominated commodity prices as it makes them cheaper for holders of other currencies.
The euro changed hands at 1.3310 against the greenback, from $1.3224 in late trading Friday.
European officials have reached an agreement on how to leverage the euro zone’s rescue fund ahead of a Tuesday meeting of euro-zone finance ministers.
