LONDON (SHARECAST) - Gold prices rose Friday but the most actively traded contract’s rise stopped short of setting a new record. Gold for December delivery rose $10.30 to close at $1,345.30 an ounce, having topped $1,350 earlier in the session. Speculation that the Federal Reserve might resume quantitative easing (QE) measures following disappointing US employment data tempered enthusiasm for the yellow stuff, which is traditionally seen as a safe investment in difficult times. Nevertheless, the price of gold rose more than 2% on the week, the fourth week in a row in which the price has headed north. With the dollar taking a tumble in the wake of the unexpected 95,000 fall in US non-farm payrolls the price of metals denominated in the US currency become relatively cheaper, and that helped investors overcome the reticence caused by a resumption of QE. As gold rose, so silver did likewise, with the December contract climbing $0.52 to $23.11 an ounce. Copper also made headway, with the December contract moving up 9 cents to $3.77 a pound. The cheaper dollar also boosted demand for oil, with the November contract moving up by one cent shy of a dollar to $82.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. The disappointing jobless figures and what they say about the prospects for the US economy might ordinarily have been expected to sap demand for oil but traders were encouraged that the US private sector had at least seen 65,000 new jobs created in September, though this was below the 75,000 additions some economists had been expecting.

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