Gold prices extend slump as dollar edges up

Gold prices continued their slide on Monday, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar.

Gold for June delivery dropped $2.30 to settle at $1,434.30 an ounce on Monday. It has lost more than 14 percent this year.

The dollar climbed against many major currencies. It traded up to 101.85 Japanese yen, extending its gains from last week.

The dollar's relative strength has helped draw many investors out of the gold market. In recent years, many of them treated gold as another currency. They bought gold in the belief that the dollar would slump, inflation would rise and other buyers would flock to gold, lifting its price.

As the dollar has edged up this year and inflation has remained tame, investors have started shedding their gold holdings. The dollar index, which measures the strength of the U.S. currency against a basket of currencies, has climbed 2 percent this month. Gold has lost 3 percent.

In other metals trading, silver for July delivery inched up 3.8 cents to settle at $23.696 an ounce.

Copper and palladium also rose, while platinum prices dipped. Copper for July rose 0.65 of a cent to $3.359 a pound.

Platinum for July fell $1.50 to $1,484.50 an ounce. June Palladium rose $13 to $718.70 an ounce.

Grains traded higher. Wheat rose 5.5 cents to $7.0975 a bushel, while Corn rose 19.25 cents to $6.5550 a bushel.

Soybeans added 20.25 cents to $14.1925 a bushel.

The stronger dollar weighed on prices in the market for oil and gas, too. Benchmark oil for June delivery fell 87 cents to finish at $95.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Since oil is priced in dollars, a stronger dollar makes crude and other commodities more expensive to buyers with other currencies.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 4 cents to finish at $2.82 a gallon.

— Heating oil lost 2 cents to end at $2.89 a gallon.

— Natural gas rose 2 cents to finish at $3.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.