Commodities bounce off morning lows as dollar declines; Bernanke talks about end to stimulus

Commodities prices rally as dollar weakens

NEW YORK — Most commodities prices have closed higher after the dollar retreated from a big gain.

The dollar initially spiked following Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s plans to withdraw stimulus measures from the economy. However, as investors became more comfortable with the plans, trading reversed.

A weaker dollar makes commodities more attractive for foreign investors because commodities are priced in dollars.

The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measure the dollar against six other currencies, rose 0.2 percent. It had been up 0.6 percent earlier in the day.

April gold fell 90 cents to $1,076.30 an ounce.