MW: Gold rises above $940, on track for first weekly gain in four
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose Friday, heading for their first weekly gain in four as a weaker U.S. dollar and record-low interest rates boosted the metal's investment appeal.
The dollar was under renewed pressure Friday after China's central bank reiterated a veiled call to lessen the currency's role as the world's reserve currency. The Federal Reserve said Wednesday its key interest rate will remain near zero "for an extended period."
August gold rose $8.30, or 0.9%, to $947.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June contract, which expires at the end of Friday's trading, gained $6.20, or 0.7%, to $945.30.
Gold prices, as gauged by front-month contracts, are set to end the week up about 1%. For the month, it's still down 4%.
"The precious metals complex has trading modestly higher as the dollar lost ground after the Fed announced it would keep rates low," said James Moore, a precious metals analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, in a note.
"But given the scale of longs already in place and the slow pace of physical demand, gold is still vulnerable to profit taking short-term and may look to consolidate in the $910 to $950 area before pushing towards $1000 again," he added.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 92.65, +0.34, +0.37%) , the biggest gold ETF, stood at 1,125.74 metric tons Thursday, down 5.5 metric tons from a day ago.
In other metals, July platinum rose $15.40, or 1.3%, to $1,206.30 an ounce, while September palladium added $2.20, or 0.9%, to $246.60 an ounce. July silver gained 27.5 cents, or 2%, to $14.28 an ounce.
Holdings in the iShare Silver Trust (SLV 14.00, +0.19, +1.38%) , the largest silver ETF, stood at 8,724.86 metric tons Thursday.
The July copper contract added 2.45 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.326 a pound.
London inventories fell to 271,600 metric tons Thursday, down 3,450 metric tons from the previous session, exchange data on copper showed.
In economic news Friday, U.S. personal incomes jumped 1.4% in May due to one-time $250 payments to Social Security beneficiaries as part of the stimulus program, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
