By Nick Godt, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose on Friday, supported by a drop in the U.S. dollar against the euro as a contingency plan to help Greece with its debt was agreed by European leaders.
Speaking at a conference in Hong Kong, Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, criticizes the handling of the Greek debt crisis. Dow Jones Newswires' Michael Casey joins the News Hub and says the attention garnered from the official's statements is an indication of China's growing clout.
Gold for May delivery rose $4.60 to $1,098.20 an ounce in electronic trade.
The dollar fell back, reversing course from 10-month highs reached on Thursday.
A weaker dollar tends to increase gold's appeal as an alternative to paper currencies and make dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies.
The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 81.71, -0.41, -0.50%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.5% to 81.73.
Among other commodities, crude oil for May delivery gained 76 cents, or 0.9%, to $81.29 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Commodities stayed higher after the U.S. government revised fourth-quarter growth to 5.6% from 5.9% previously. The revision was largely in line with expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch, who expected it to be revised down to 5.7%.
Nick Godt is MarketWatch's markets editor, based in New York.
