Gold gains $23 in New York trade

The price of gold was significantly higher in New York trade Monday despite a stronger US dollar, bucking the conventional wisdom that when the dollar rises, gold declines, while some analysts said they see gold prices as likely to go even higher on investor concerns about the state of the global economy amid continuing worries about debt in Europe.

August gold was up $23.10 to $1,240.80 per troy ounce in New York trade, closing less than $2.50 below the record closing price of $1,243.10 per troy ounce, set on 12 May.

Earlier in the session, gold prices rose to as high as $1,243.30 per troy ounce.

The increased demand for gold was emphasized by comments from South Africa’s Rand Refinery Ltd, the biggest gold processor globally and the only gold refinery in Africa, that sales of the South African Krugerrand was up 50 percent in a week, while mints in Australia and Austria have already said they have seen increases in demand.

Among other precious metals, July silver added 86 cents to $18.16 per troy ounce in New York trade, but July platinum fell $8 to $1,517.30 per troy ounce and September palladium dropped 65 cents to $430.35 per troy ounce.

July copper, meanwhile, was down 5 cents to $2.76 per pound, its sixth session in a row of declines, while three-month copper was 2.9 percent lower to $6,101 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Aluminium, lead, tin, and zinc also dropped, but the price of nickel was higher.