MW: Gold up as investors look for safety before the weekend
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold prices edged higher on Friday after a two-day retreat, as investors looked for safety ahead of the weekend, which in recent weeks has often bought developments from overseas, in particular from the euro zone.
Gold futures for August delivery, the most active contract, gained $2.40 to $1,224.60 an ounce.
"A higher weekly close this week would be very bullish as it would follow last week's higher close and the month of May's higher close," said analysts at Goldcore.com.
"However, even a lower weekly close would not be disastrous as all of gold's moving averages are all rising," they added.
On Thursday prices ended lower for a second day, slipping $7.70, or 0.6%, to finish at $1,222.20 after the embattled euro drew a lift from a German court declining to immediately block the country's contribution to efforts to prevent defaults in the euro zone.
The metal is down almost 2% from its record close of $1,245.60 on Tuesday.
Friday's market had U.S. stock futures falling after surging the prior session, when as investors received soothing news to assuage worries about Europe's ability to handle its debt crisis.
Dampening hopes about the economic recovery, the government reported U.S. retail sales fell a surprising 1.2% in May, the first drop in eight months.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.2107, +0.0001, +0.0083%) , viewed as a gauge of investor confidence in the European Union, fell Friday to $1.2083. The currency used by 16 nations is down about 16% so far this year.
Spain said it has not requested aid from the European Union and was not going to do so, Reuters reported. The denial followed a story in Friday's FT Deutschland newspaper that said EU officials were readying an aid package in the event Spain's banking woes forced Madrid to seek assistance.
Later in the session, the initial Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for May will be released.
