Gold, other metals post modest gains amid mixed earnings reports, oil finishes week above $63

Gold, other metals up slightly amid mixed earnings

NEW YORK — Gold and other metals rose slightly in a quiet day of trading Friday amid a mixed bag of earnings reports.

Investors who sent commodities rising this spring on hopes the economy was improving have put their buying on hold in recent days as they await more direction from corporate earnings.

On Friday, Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. reported big second-quarter profits, following solid reports from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. earlier in the week. But both banks showed continued weakness in their loan portfolios. General Electric Co., meanwhile, beat earnings forecasts but its revenue fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Outside of the earnings reports, commodities got little direction from the dollar and the stock market. A weaker dollar makes commodities cheaper for foreign buyers, while gains in stocks often signal increased risk appetite among investors, which bodes well for commodities.

On Friday, the dollar was mixed against other currencies, and stocks finished the day little changed. Still, the market managed to hold on to big gains logged earlier in the week, giving stocks their best weekly performance since March.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for August delivery inched up $2.10 to $937.50 an ounce. Prices finished the week up 2.7 percent.

The gold market has entered its “summer doldrums,” Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., wrote in a research note Friday. With few catalysts on the horizon, the yellow metal remains confined to a trading range of between $900 and $950, he said.

Among other precious metals, September silver gained 16.8 cents to $13.4030 an ounce, while July platinum rose $5.90 to $1,168.60 an ounce.

September copper futures rose 3.35 cents to $2.4230 a pound.

Oil prices rose above $63 a barrel Friday after hovering around $60 earlier in the week. Prices rallied 6.1 percent over the past five days, buoyed by gains in the stock market, an upbeat report on economic growth in China and political turmoil in Iran.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery jumped $1.54 to settle at $63.56 a barrel.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for August delivery added 5.64 cents to $1.7699 a gallon and heating oil rose 4.16 cents to $1.641 a gallon.

Grain prices climbed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for September delivery rose 8.5 cents to $5.4175 a bushel, while September corn futures added 5.5 cents to $3.2225 a bushel.

November soybeans jumped 33.5 cents to $9.2350 a bushel.