SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures fell and crude-oil prices topped $102 a barrel Monday on optimism that European Union leaders will be able to come up with a resolution to the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis. Gold for February delivery was down $8.10, or 0.5%, at $1,743.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange and January crude oil traded at $102.15 a barrel on Nymex, up $1.19, or 1.2%. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were addressing a news conference Monday to push their plan for better enforcement of the region’s deficit rules.

Originally from MarketWatch