Gold climbed on Tuesday after data showed the U.S. manufacturing sector grew more than expected in August, lifting appetite for assets seen as higher risk, such as commodities, and boosting inflation fears.

But gains were capped by a slight recovery in the U.S. dollar and by a reduction in the metal’s appeal as a haven.

Spot gold was bid at $954.40 an ounce at 1444 GMT, against $949.65 an ounce late in New York on Monday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $2.70 to $956.20.

The data from the Institute of Supply Managers showed the U.S. manufacturing sector returned to growth in August after a prolonged slump, while pending home sales raced to a two-year high in July.

The news boosted U.S. stock markets, while European shares pared earlier losses.

Simon Weeks, head of precious metals at the Bank of Nova Scotia, said the news was

Gold rose on Thursday as the dollar fell versus a basket of currencies, with rebounding stock markets and U.S. jobless figures showing a decline in continuing claims boosting appetite for assets seen as higher risk.

U.S. data showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose slightly more than expected last week, but a gauge of underlying labor trends fell for a fifth straight week.

Spot gold was bid at $933.50 an ounce at 1311 GMT, against $929.00 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $6.20 to $933.40 an ounce.

“If this is welcomed by the equities market and triggers a fresh boost, that could benefit gold,” said CMC Markets strategist Ashraf Laidi.

The dollar was down 0.39 percent at 79.3 against a basket of currencies and was lower against the euro following the

Gold had a day of wild sentiment swings to little ultimate effect on Tuesday, originally drifting lower in the far East, spiking sharply in early London trading to its intraday high of $932, falling to the noon hour in New York, rallying back to the end of the Comex, and finally selling off again on the Globex to finish at $924.10/oz., down 80 cents. Overnight, gold has slipped lower. Platinum traded between $1130 and $1150 from Hong Kong through the New York day, eventually settling near the low end of the range at $1133/oz., down $11. Overnight, platinum is sharply lower.

Silver bumped up to $13.35 just before New York opened, but that was all she wrote as the metal drifted lower pretty steadily through the day, just coming off its intraday lows late in the Globex to close at $13.09/oz., down 16 cents. Overnight, silver is unchanged. (

Gold had a very inconclusive day on Monday, rising from the far East to a peak of $942 in early New York trading, then plunging back to $934 at mid-morning, before moving in fits and starts through the rest of the day, to finish at $937.30/oz., down $1.70. Overnight, gold is trending higher.

Platinum peaked at $1195 in Hong Kong, but traded rangebound between $1180 and $1190 for the bulk of the day, ending at $1183/oz., down $14. Overnight, platinum is pushing higher.

Silver hit its high for the day, $14.10, early on, then declined straight through with only a few temporary blips up, and closed at its intraday low of $13.84/oz., down 23 cents. Overnight, silver is sharply higher. (Click here for charts)

It was another listless day for gold, although platinum and silver took more substantial downside hits. A better showing might have been predicted, if

Gold had a very dull day on Friday, rising from Hong Kong through to the first hour in New York, peaking at $948, then getting sold off to the noon hour, where it bottomed at $937, then going essentially flat to the finish at $939.00/oz., up all of 10 cents. For the week, gold tacked on just over half a percent. Platinum pushed as high as $1210 in European trading, but fell gently from there to the noon hour, before leveling off the rest of the day to end at $1197/oz., up $12. For the week, platinum dropped a third of a percent.

Silver rose from the far East to the open in New York, topping out at $14.30, then also declined to the noon hour and went still, creeping to a close at $14.07/oz., up 8 cents. For the week, silver lost eight-tenths of a percent. (Click

Gold had a very dull day on Friday, rising from Hong Kong through to the first hour in New York, peaking at $948, then getting sold off to the noon hour, where it bottomed at $937, then going essentially flat to the finish at $939.00/oz., up all of 10 cents. For the week, gold tacked on just over half a percent. Platinum pushed as high as $1210 in European trading, but fell gently from there to the noon hour, before leveling off the rest of the day to end at $1197/oz., up $12. For the week, platinum dropped a third of a percent.

Silver rose from the far East to the open in New York, topping out at $14.30, then also declined to the noon hour and went still, creeping to a close at $14.07/oz., up 8 cents. For the week, silver lost eight-tenths of a percent. (Click

Many investors are somewhat dazed and befuddled as they watch what used to be called “The Natural Resources Sector” bounce up and down as the summer season commences.  With the dollar up again, commodities including the precious metals and oil were off sharply yesterday. All in all, it was just a broadly negative day. Little was spared, including equities, which also took a serious hit.  Even perennial bull James Moore, of TheBullionDesk.com, was forced to write that, “Short-term the metal [gold] could extend lower as a result of the dollar.”  John Reade, of UBS in London, concurred, writing that, “We would not be surprised to see further short-term declines, especially in the absence of any material jewelry, physical-investment or ETF demand.”

How do you put a happy face on that? Easy, according to the folks at Casey Research. “However, the current correction is likely to prove beneficial longer-term with the

Gold rounded out the week in desultory fashion on Friday, peaking only at $938 at noon, and retreating from there to close at $933.70/oz., up $1.40. For the week, gold was off half a percent.

Platinum was locked in again yesterday, rarely straying from a range between $1205 and $1210 all day long, ending at the bottom at $1205/oz., up $4. For the week, platinum lost 3.6%.

Silver started the day up in Hong Kong trading, and rose to a peak of $14.35 right at the noon hour, but then slipped through the rest of the Comex and went flat on the Globex, closing at $14.19/oz., unchanged. For the week, silver skidded 4.3%. (Click here for charts)

Another day of so little movement for the precious metals that silver didn’t even budge in the end, while gold and platinum moved fractionally higher.

Gold might have been expected to gain a

Gold was up in the far East on Thursday, declined slowly to late morning in New York, but then really ignited, shooting up nearly $20 by the early Globex, then leveled off to finish a second strong day in a row at $953.90/oz., up $16.70. Overnight, gold has been flat.

Platinum, which was higher in Hong Kong, plummeted from there to late morning New York trading, dropping $25, but then abruptly reversed course and bulled its way back into the green, ending at $1149, up $6. Overnight, platinum is unchanged.

Silver submitted a similar pattern to gold’s, but was up even more sharply, rising nearly 50 cents from intraday low to peak, and closing at $14.55, up 30 cents. Overnight, silver is trending higher. (Click here for charts)

The beat goes on, as the precious metals continue to perform in a stellar manner—with gold at its highest since March

Gold tracked back from its lows on Thursday as the dollar retreated from earlier highs, with worse-than-expected U.S. macro data and weaker European equity markets fuelling doubts a recent winning streak was sustainable.

Higher-than-expected U.S. jobless claims and producer prices data helped precious metals erase larger losses from earlier in the day.

This followed a fall in U.S. retail sales data on Wednesday, which dented sentiment that had boosted equity and commodity markets and signalled the economy’s troubles were far from over.

Spot gold was at $925.55 per ounce at 1407 GMT, from $925.45 late in New York on Wednesday, when it touched a six-week high on buying by gold-backed exchange-traded funds.

“The jobs data is worse than forecast,” said James Moore, an analyst at The Bullion Desk.com. “It’s a bit of a reality check that maybe the recession in the U.S. is going to