Gold makes slight gains

Gold prices rose on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday as Republicans forwarded a budget plan to the White House. Gold prices have been tied to talks in Washington on the so-called "fiscal cliff" which is the budget plan that would kick in Jan. 1 if a new budget compromise is not reached before then. The gold market has lately been bullish on a fiscal cliff solution and bearish when talks stall or the chance of a compromise appears to be waning. On Monday, gold gained $4.80 or 0.28 percent to close at $1,717.50 per troy ounce. Silver added 43 cents or 1.3 percent to reach $33.71. The dollar index was dropped 0.41 percent to 79.90 in the International Exchange. The dollar fell to 82.20 yen from Friday's 82.48 yen. It was otherwise mixed in Asia. The dollar was weaker across most of Europe. The euro rose to $1.3053 from Friday's $1.2987. The British pound rose to $1.6093 from $1.6011. The dollar fell to 0.9256 Swiss francs from 0.928.