Contract holds at $1,316; silver maintains 30-year high
By MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures came off a record high Monday as renewed signs of potential trouble in the European Union boosted the dollar, but bullion showed some residual strength to trade above $1,315 an ounce.
Gold for December delivery (GCZ10 1,316, -1.90, -0.14%) retreated $1.40, or 0.1%, to $1,316 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The run in silver, meanwhile, kept rolling, with the contract notching a fresh 30-year high. December silver (SIZ10 2,208, +2.00, +0.09%) added 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $22.07 an ounce.
Dollar weakness had been one leg of support behind gold’s record-high streak of the past two weeks.
On Monday, however, the euro got hit on a further rise in unemployment reported in Spain, and comments by Nobel-prize economist Joseph Stiglitz in a British newspaper on the perils surrounding the common currency contributed as well.
One-month performance in gold futures.
The dollar index (DXY 78.32, +0.23, +0.30%) , which tracks the performance of the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.3% to 78.35.
A stronger dollar is generally negative for gold and other dollar-priced commodities as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Gold on Friday settled at $1,317.80, gaining 1.5% in the week and scoring its 12th record high for September and October.
