MW: Gold futures rise to fresh record as investors chase run
By Claudia Assis and Nick Godt , MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures soared to a fresh record on Friday as more investors jumped into bullion's bandwagon, ready to chase better returns and wary of riskier bets such as stocks.
Gold for August delivery rose $8.80, or 0.9%, to $1,257.40 an ounce. It earlier hit an intraday high of $1,260.90 an ounce.
"People are tired of their zero percent T-bills, afraid of the stock market, and afraid of the double-dip recession," said James Cordier, a portfolio manager at OptionSellers.com in Tampa, Fla. "People are pouring into gold even at this high level."
On Thursday, the August contract gained 1.5% to settle at $1,248.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since gold futures started trading in the 1970s.
Some investors waiting for a pullback that never came are now afraid to miss gold's run, even if it means buying at the crest, said Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.
"There's big money that wants to own gold," he said. No one feels economic problems across the Atlantic and in the U.S. are really solved, and are afraid of more credit concerns that "will show themselves in the future."
Stocks opened modestly higher on Friday, but were trading in negative territory recently as energy companies lagged. Stocks opened flat Thursday, spent most of the trading day on the red but staged a last-minute rebound. Read more about stocks.
The dollar index (DXY 85.67, -0.01, -0.02%) , which compares the U.S. unit against a basket of six currencies, was modestly higher at 85.71.
As an indication of rising investor interest in gold, holdings at SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 122.10, +1.10, +0.90%) rose to a fresh record on Thursday, the latest day for which statistics are available.
The fund, the largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, reported holdings of 1,307.96 metric tons of gold (1,441.77 short tons.)
Oil and other commodities such as copper were trading lower on Friday. Most metals, however, tracked gold's rise.
Silver for July delivery added 29 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.07 an ounce. A close around these levels would take silver to its highest price since mid-May.
July platinum added $2.10, or 0.15, to $1,574.10 an ounce.
