Precious metals up on higher oil, lower dollar

Precious metals prices followed oil higher on Tuesday as crude oil topped $122 per barrel in New York and as the US dollar declined versus the euro for the second consecutive session.

June gold added $3.40 to $877.50 per troy ounce just before the close of floor trade in New York, while July silver was up 3 cents to $16.86 per troy ounce and platinum soared $42.40 to $1,969.80 per troy ounce.

The gains came as investors looked for safe places to put their money in the face of concerns about rising inflation.

Among base metals, however, copper dropped 7 cents to $3.88 per pound in New York after a vote by workers ended a strike that had closed three mines in Chile.

Work has resumed at two of the mines and the other is expected to restart operations later this week.

Despite the end of the strike, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange added $120 to $8,530 per tonne.

Yesterday’s spike of 12 percent in copper prices in the middle of the session was laid to trader error and exaggeration due to the day’s closure of the London Metal Exchange due to a holiday.