NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold and other metal futures soared early Friday, as the euro dropped on news that the euro zone had fallen into recession and U.S. stock futures pointed to a sharply lower opening on Wall Street.
Gold for December delivery rallied $40.90, or 5.8%, to $745.90 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.
Earlier, the contract hit an intraday high of $752.
Silver futures rose 9%, platinum was up 5% and copper soared 6.6%.
"Global economic data continue to point to an ongoing deterioration in the global outlook," said currency strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman. "That does not bode well for equities and should continue to encourage the de-leveraging process."
On Wall Street, U.S. stock futures traded lower Friday on doubts whether the explosive gains seen in the last session can be sustained amid signs of a deteriorating world economy.
The euro was under pressure Friday, losing ground against the dollar and major counterparts as data confirmed expectations the 15-nation euro zone had tumbled into recession for the first time since the single currency's introduction nearly 10 years ago.
The region's third-quarter gross domestic product shrank 0.2% compared to the previous quarter, according to the statistical agency Eurostat. The second quarter also saw a 0.2% decline.
The dollar index , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of currencies, stood at 86.87 compared with 86.445 in North American activity late Thursday. The dollar lost ground against the Japanese currency to trade at 96.36 yen from 97.79 yen. See Currencies.
Also on the Globex, December silver rose 79 cents, or 9%, to $9.59 an ounce and January platinum futures gained $39, or 4.8%, to $852 an ounce.
December palladium gained $5.05 to $219 an ounce and December copper rose 10 cents, or 6%, to $1.73 a pound.
