Gold futures advance

In NEW YORK, COMEX gold futures advanced on Tuesday morning, taking a cue from a sagging US dollar, which made the precious metal cheaper to buy for holders of overseas currencies, dealers said.

Prices have rallied from last week's more than two-month low at $395, as investors tested international resolve to restore stability to currencies and dumped the U.S. dollar.

Currency traders have been exchanging dollars for its rivals because of low US interest rates and long-running concerns about the US current account deficit.

Traders peg resistance in April gold at $416, $420 and $430-432.30, with support at $395 and at levels down to $379.

Silver, which has largely been tracking gold, yielded some ground in early trade.

COMEX March fell 0.8 cent to $6.42 an ounce, trading from $6.38-$6.48.

In NEW YORK, NYMEX crude oil kept sharp gains in midsession on Tuesday after OPEC ministers, in a surprise move, agreed to cut output by 1 million barrels per day effective April 1 and to press members for compliance with quota ceilings.

At OPEC's meeting in Algiers, the Kuwaiti oil minister, Sheik Ahmad al-Fahd, confirmed ministers had reached the agreement, adding that they had also agreed to eliminate 1.5 million bpd in production above current quotas.

The decision to reduce output, currently at 24.5 million bpd, and plug the production leak addresses concerns about a seasonal drop in fuel demand in the second quarter, after the winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

NYMEX oil prices jumped on word of the pact, initially learned in overnight trading, and the market remained bullish in the dayside session.