Gold climbed again on Wednesday as traders continued to turn to the safety appeal amid lingering doubts over U.S. rescue plans. With the rally, the metal reached its best level in more than six months.
April gold closed at $944.50 an ounce, up $30.30 on the session. Earlier, prices reached as high as $949.00, its best level since July.
The metal has gained more than $50 in a two-day rally. Traders flocked to the hedge appeal of the precious metal since Tuesday after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's speech was generally regarded as a flop, as he failed to provide enough details about the plan to restore credit flows.
Wednesday, investors focused on congressional testimony from the CEOs of many major TARP recipients. Those being grilled on how they spent their share of the money include Bank of America's (BAC) Ken Lewis, Citigroup's (C) Vikram Pandit and JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) Jamie Dimon.
On the economic front Wednesday, a Commerce Department report showed that the trade deficit narrowed to $39.9 billion in December from a revised $41.6 billion in November. Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to $35.5 billion from the $40.4 billion originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices plunged again on Wednesday as inventory data enchanced demand worries. Light sweet crude for March delivery fell to $35.94, down $1.61 on the day.
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased 4.7 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 6. Analysts were looking for a build of about 3 million barrels in the recent week. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 2.6 million barrels last week.
