NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rallied Tuesday, tracking sharp gains in the oil market after Iran's president rejected a United Nations resolution demanding that it suspend uranium-enrichment activities.
President Mahmoud Admadinejad's remarks raised the specter of international sanctions against the world's fourth-biggest oil producer, a prospect that further ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East.
"Gold is getting a safe-haven bid again," said Amaury Conti, equity trader at Austin Calvert-Flavin.
Gold for October delivery closed up $12 at $652.40 an ounce. The contract had fallen to as low as $635 early in the day.
Conti said Iran's defiance had rattled a market already pessimistic about chances for negotiating a cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"On the one hand, there's worry about the Middle East and then with oil back over $75 a barrel, inflation fears are creeping back up," he said. "We've also had some hawkish comments from Fed speakers in the past few days," refueling concerns that the U.S. central bank may increase interest rates for an 18th time at next week's monetary-policy meeting.
Earlier, Admadinejad reiterated his stance that the country has the right to produce nuclear energy, defying a U.N. resolution passed Monday.
Ahmadinejad told a rally in northern Iran that he would not bow to "the language of force and threats," the BBC reported.
"It's not new, we've heard him say it before, but it is out there again and it's pushing commodities higher," said Conti.
The U.S. and other western governments have offered Tehran a package of incentives in an effort to dissuade uranium enrichment. The West fears Iran is developing a nuclear-arms program, although Tehran insists it wants to generate power for civilian use.
Meanwhile, Israel stepped up its ground offensive against Lebanon, damping hopes for a cease-fire.
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a minister in the Israeli cabinet, said that Israel's army needs 10 days to two weeks to drive Hezbollah from its border stronghold. The BBC reported fierce fighting on the ground, with the Israeli Air Force continuing to bomb targets across Lebanon despite its pledge to suspend air strikes for 48-hours to allow civilians to leave the area.
"To add just a bit more nerves to the mix, the two Koreas exchanged gunfire along their common border overnight," said Jon Nadler, investment analyst at bullion dealers Kitco.com. "A month ago, this unsettling brew of bad news would have witnessed a 2% or 3% rally in metals."
Technical factors were also at play, according to Peter Grandich, editor of The Grandich Letter. In recent sessions, investors with short positions have moved into the market after the London fixing and physical buying of gold in Europe has stopped.
"They couldn't push the contract lower, so now they're just covering positions," he said.
The short squeeze "offers a lot of opportunities to move higher, especially if we can take out the $640 spot level," he said.
On the data front, the Commerce Department said core U.S. consumer inflation matched an 11-year high in June, keeping pressure on the Fed to take action to cool the economy.
The core personal consumption expenditure price index, adjusted to exclude food and energy, increased 0.2% for the third straight month in June, and it's risen 2.4% in the past 12 months, matching the largest year-over-year gain since April 1995.
Consumer prices including food and energy also rose 0.2% in June, and are up 3.5% in the past year.
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Other reports showed construction spending rising at a higher-than-expected pace in June, while the pending home index rose for a second month in a row.
See full report. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing survey rose unexpectedly in July. The headline manufacturing index last month stood at 54.7%, up from 53.8% in June. A MarketWatch forecast, based on a poll of economists, called for a reading of 53.6%.
See full story. Other metals were also higher, with silver up 37 cents at $11.74 an ounce. Platinum added $16.90 to $1,258.50 an ounce, palladium ended up $4.80 to $321.95 an ounce and copper added 2.3 cents to $3.593 a pound.
On the supply side, gold inventories were unchanged at 8.09 million troy ounces as of late Monday, according to Nymex data. Silver supplies fell by 838,801 troy ounces to 99 million. Copper supplies were unchanged at 6,756 short tons.
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