NEW YORK: Gold prices jumped 2 percent on Monday as trading for the third quarter opened after a record quarterly loss in the prior three months, and copper and oil futures rose too as the dollar fell against most major currencies.
Most crop markets tumbled.
Corn futures fell to a 2-1/2-year low on forecasts for beneficial US crop weather and a government acreage report that showed farmers planted the largest corn area in 77 years.
Raw sugar prices fell for a fourth straight session, but remained above a recent three-year low.
The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index rose 0.8 percent for its largest daily gain in a month.
The spot price of gold hit a session peak of $1,260.61 an ounce before steadying at $1,253.80 in New York's late afternoon trade. On Friday, spot gold hit a near three-year low of $1,180.71, ending the second quarter with a record loss of 23 percent.
Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital, said Monday's bounce in gold was an expected reaction to Friday's retreat although he wasn't sure if the uptrend would last.
"I doubt there will be a lot of bargain hunting given a whole array of macro numbers this week," he said.
Traders and investors are awaiting US payrolls report for June, due on Friday. A strong payrolls reading would likely signal more pressure on the Fed to reduce its stimulus, lifting Treasury yields and the dollar, and depressing gold.
Markets are also watching the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday, which is likely to emphasise that the euro zone is in a different recovery stage than the United States.
In oil, benchmark Brent crude out of Europe's North Sea settled up 0.8 percent at $103.00 a barrel. US crude finished at $97.99, up 1.5 percent.
Copper's three-month contract in London ended up 3.39 percent at $6,979 a tonne, its highest level since June 19.
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