CHICAGO, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange reversed its downturn on Friday, as the U.S. dollar weakened.
The most active gold contract for August delivery rose 1.9 U.S. dollars, or 0.15 percent, to settle at 1,256.50 dollars per ounce.
After the U.S. Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate to 1 to 1.25 percents on Wednesday, gold futures posted losses amid sell-off.
When the U.S. dollar Index fell again on Friday, down 0.29 percent to 97.15 as of 1748 GMT, the gold futures started to rise.
The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies. When the dollar goes down, gold futures will rise.
However, the downturn of gold futures was limited by the stock market losses. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite Index fell moderately during the morning session on Friday. Analysts note that when equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up.
As for other precious metals, silver for July delivery dropped 5.5 cents, or 0.33 percent, to close at 16.661 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery went up 5.5 dollars, or 0.6 percent, to close at 926.8 dollars per ounce. Editem
