James Moore, analyst with thebulliondesk.com, said in his daily report that increasing oil prices might slow economic growth, which would be bearish for the dollar.
But HSBC analyst Alan Williamson said in a report there was virtually no correlation between gold and oil, while the relationship between oil and platinum, nickel, palladium and aluminium was strongly positive.
"The huge disparity between the correlation between oil and other commodities suggests that where there is a relationship this is more coincidental rather than causal," he said.
This does not take into account "extreme event" shocks, he added, such as the combination of the Iran revolution in the late 1970s and the second OPEC oil shock which saw gold prices surge to over $800 an ounce in 1980.
