The gold price gave up almost $30 dollars in afternoon trade on Thursday, from a record best level set earlier in the day amid a slight recovery from the greenback and profit taking, a metals research analyst said. Spot gold reached a new record high of $1 364.94/oz on Thursday morning, on the back of a persistently weak US dollar, but fell quite dramatically to $1 336.30/oz in late afternoon trade. Ross Norman, director and co-founder of FastMarkets told I-Net Bridge: "We have seen a rather violent swing and reversal on gold after a slight dollar recovery, and a fair bit of profit taking." He said that having reached a series of record highs over the past few days, profit taking was inevitable. "It is important to note that markets are currently quite thin so you are going to see some volatility, especially when prices are at record levels," Norman said. The analyst added that the decline in the yellow metal was only temporary. "I think we are only seeing a momentary pause, trade tomorrow will be interesting," he said, noting key US employment data. Dow Jones reported that Comex gold prices were in retreat late Thursday morning as investors booked profits, temporarily halting the yellow metal's historic rally. The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, was recently down 1 percent, or $12.80, at $1 334.90 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Investors have rushed to cash in their gains after the contract failed two attempts to breach a record intra-day high set earlier in the session. Gold prices had reached $1 363.00 per troy ounce in early Thursday morning trade, $14 above the contract's Wednesday intraday high of $1 349.00 per troy ounce. But as the contract struggled to retake those price levels, investor sentiment shifted towards locking in profits. "Traders are taking some money off the table for now," said George Gero, vice president of RBC Capital Markets Global Futures. The precious metal has enjoyed a historic rally to record gains as investors purchased gold to limit various economic and fiscal risks. Part of gold's allure has been the metal's status as an alternative currency amid continued foreign exchange volatility and the so-called currency wars. Analysts at Macquarie Group warned that gold's rally is too reliant on dollar weakness. The drop in the dollar "pretty much accounts for all the gains" in the gold price, making further gains in gold "contingent" on the dollar dropping further, Macquarie said in a note to clients. The dollar slumped broadly Thursday, before regaining some poise as investors pared riskier positions ahead of Friday's all-important US employment figures. - I-Net Bridge

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