Copper, gold gain on weaker dollar

Copper prices were higher Tuesday as the US dollar weakened and on hopes that demand for the metal, used in construction and manufacturing, could be becoming more stable in the United States and China.

May copper added 8 cents to $1.84 per pound in afternoon trade in New York and was set to end the first quarter with a gain of over 30 percent after prices fell 54 percent in 2008, for its biggest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2006.

Three-month copper, meanwhile, added $165 to $4,075 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Gold was up as precious metals prices were mixed on the session.

The gains came on hopes that a weaker dollar might increase demand for the precious metal as a better place to put cash, but some analysts warned that gold’s gains could be limited after imports of the metal by India were negligible for the second consecutive month.

June gold was $7.30 higher to $925 per troy ounce in New York and July platinum gained $8 to $1,128.80 per troy ounce, but May silver dropped 5 cents to $12.99 per troy ounce.