Materials Up as Dollar Weakness Buoys Gold - Materials Roundup

Shares of miners and other commodities producers were more or less flat as a weaker dollar spurred renewed interest in the sector.

The price of gold looks set to close the year above $1,300 an ounce, for a 17% gain, the largest since 2010.

Gold futures have advanced in 11 of the last 12 sessions as traders threw out assumptions that the U.S. would raise interest rates much more quickly than other developed nations. That weakened the value of the dollar in foreign-exchange markets, a key variable for calculating gold prices.

Similarly, the price of copper has risen 30% for 2017, to trade over $3.20 a pound. The price of copper fell Friday to end the longest ever streak of gains on the New York Mercantile Exchange, at 16.

Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 29, 2017 16:09 ET (21:09 GMT)