Gold prices gain after HSBC China flash PMI, but copper lags
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery rose 1.02% to trade at $1,209.50 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery ticked up 2.78% to trade at $16.685 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, copper for May delivery fell 0.60% to trade at $2.622 a pound.
The HSBC China February flash manufacturing PMI jumped to 50.1, well above the expected drop to 49.5 and up from January's final 49.7.
"Domestic demand firmed while new export orders contracted for the first time since April 2014. Both input and output prices remain in contraction," said Qu Hongbin, Chief Economist, China and joint head of Asian economic research at HSBC.
"Today's data point to a marginal improvement in the Chinese manufacturing sector going into the Chinese New Year period in February. However, domestic economic activity is likely to remain sluggish and external demand looks uncertain. We believe more policy easing is still warranted at the current stage to support growth."