Gold prices rallied again as traders flocked to the safety appeal of the precious metal amid another government bailout of a fallen financial giant. Gold for December delivery closed at $819.50, up $27.70 for the session. The metal touched as high as $55.30 in mid-day trading
The U.S. dollar saw further weakness against other majors as traders considered a $20 billion bailout of Citigroup (C). The greenback slipped to a two-week low against the euro and also fell against the sterling and loonie.
The U.S. government announced Sunday it would guarantee losses on more than $300 billion of Citi's troubled assets. The government will also make a new $20 billion investment in the troubled bank.
In Monday's big news, President-elect Barack Obama on Monday officially unveiled key members of the incoming administration's economic team, including New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as his Treasury Secretary and former Harvard President Lawrence Summers as Director of the National Economic Council.
On the economic front, a National Association of Realtors report showed that existing home sales fell 3.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.98 million units in October from a revised 5.14 million in September. Economists expected sales to fall to a 5.05 million unit rate compared to the 5.18 million originally reported for the previous month.
In other futures trading, crude oil climbed back above the $50 a barrel mark on Monday. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery ended at $54.50, up $4.57 for the day. Prices touched as high as $55.30 in mid-day deals.
Gold gained $43.10 Friday to finish at $791.80 an ounce after reaching a high of $801.90 an ounce. With the strong upward move, the price of gold closed up $49.30 an ounce for the week, although it currently remains well off the record high of $1,033.90 an ounce that it set in March.
