Gold leads rally in metals prices as worries about Greece’s financial problems ease

Gold leads rally in metals as Greece concerns ebb

DENVER — Gold prices topped $1,160 an ounce Friday for the first time in nearly three months as concerns about Greece’s financial crisis abated.

Silver and industrial metals also rose while energy and grains prices were mixed.

Greece’s debt problems have worked to gold’s advantage this week as investors worry that the crisis could hurt other European countries and undermine their shared currency, the euro.

Those concerns eased somewhat when Greece’s finance minister said Friday that they were working on details about how to implement a previously announced plan to help Greece if the need should arise.

Those comments followed comments on Thursday from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet who said a Greek default was “not an issue.”

“The resolution of Greece for the moment … has helped the euro climb up and that’s helped all of the metals,” RBC Global Futures analyst George Gero said.

Commodities and the dollar typically move in opposite directions. A weaker dollar can make commodities, which are priced in dollars, more appealing to overseas buyers.

The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six currencies, fell 0.54 percent.

Gold for June delivery rose $9 to settle at $1,161.90 an ounce, the highest level in nearly three months. May silver, which rose 22.4 cents to $18.351 an ounce, and May copper rose 0.35 cent to $3.59 a pound.

In the industrial metals, a report that China’s passenger car sales jumped 63 percent in March boosted prices for palladium and platinum, which are used in automobile catalytic converters.

Palladium for June delivery rose $10.10 to $513.60 an ounce while July platinum rose $11.10 to $1,727.40 an ounce.

Oil prices fell for the third consecutive day Friday as traders wondered if there is enough demand for fuel to justify higher prices. Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 47 cents to $84.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil fell 0.22 cent to settle at $2.226 gallon and gasoline fell 0.9 cent to settle at $2.2893 a gallon. Natural gas rose 16.1 cents to settle at $4.070 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Grains were mixed. In May contracts, corn fell 2.25 cents to settle at $3.5725 a bushel and soybeans rose 5.75 cents to $9.5225 a bushel. July wheat fell 3.25 cents to settle at $4.7925 a bushel.