Gold kept up its record-setting pace Monday, hitting a fresh high of more than $1,140 an ounce as the dollar tumbled. The weaker dollar also helped push other metals like copper and silver sharply higher, and oil prices rebounded from their lowest levels in a month. Dollar-denominated commodities become cheaper for foreign buyers when the dollar falls. December gold futures settled up $22.50, or 2 percent, at $1,139.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange and touched a new high of $1,144.20 in after-hours trading. Gold prices have jumped 25 percent, or more than $200, since early July. Analysts said gold's surge is also being driven by a wave of short-term, speculative buying. Silver and copper also hit highs on Monday. December silver rose to a 16-month high of $18.45, before settling up $1.02 at $18.40 an ounce. December copper futures rose 12.9 cents, or 4.3 percent, to settle at $3.1285 a pound. Earlier, copper rose as high as $3.1525 a pound, their highest level since September 2008. December platinum soared $55.90 to $1,441.40 an ounce. Palladium jumped 6.2 percent. The dollar dropped Monday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged anew to keep interest rates at record-lows to nurture the economic recovery, but said the central bank will monitor the sliding US dollar. The 16-nation euro slid to $1.4878, later spiking above the psychologically significant $1.50 mark. The euro bought $1.4987 in late afternoon trading in New York, compared with $1.4893 Friday. The British pound jumped to $1.6836 from $1.6672, after trading as low as $1.666 after Bernanke's comments. The dollar fell to 88.98 Japanese yen from 89.63 yen. Meanwhile, oil prices climbed Monday amid a weak dollar and rising demand expectations boosted by growth prospects, including in Japan, the world's second largest economy. OPEC also signaled that $75-80 a barrel was a satisfactory level for crude. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, soared $2.55 to close at $78.90 a barrel. London's Brent North Sea crude for January delivery jumped $2.45 to settle at $78.76 a barrel.
