Silver 3 month highug. 31, 2010, 10:00 a.m. EDT
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Gold, silver forge ahead; silver trades at three-month high
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By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures posted gains on Tuesday andsilver hit a three-month high as investors sought out both metals toprotect against their wealth against signs the economic recovery isfaltering.
Gold for December delivery added $8.50, or 0.7%, to $1,247.80 an ounceon the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It is tradingless than 1% from bullion's record high of $1,258.30 an ounce on June18.
Gold also looks set to post monthly gains, rising about 5.5% in August.That compares to a decrease of 5% in July and would be gold's largestadvance since April.
Silver for December delivery added 23 cents, or 1.2%, to $19.30 anounce. If prices hold, it will be silver's highest close since mid May.
Copper, however, bucked the trend to post losses. Copper for Decemberdelivery retreated 4 cents, or 1%, to $3.38 a pound as investors tookprofit on the metal. Copper on Monday hit a four-month high.
Earlier Tuesday, gold held onto gains as the S&P's Case-Shiller homeprice index showed prices have risen over the past three months andmoved up 4.2% in the past year.
Investors will have a thick stash of reports to go through this week,with Tuesday still bringing the consumer confidence index and theFederal Reserve minutes of its last meeting. Later in the week,employment numbers and economic growth will be the focus.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.