By Sarah Turner and William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Gold futures erased earlier losses to hit a nominal record high Tuesday as traders continued to seek safety in the yellow metal amid ongoing debt worries in the United States and Europe.
Gold for August delivery GC1Q +0.42% rose $6 to $1,608.40 an ounce in electronic activity and traded as high as $1,610.70, according to FactSet Research data.
In regular trading in New York on Monday, the precious metal settled at $1,602.40 an ounce, after touching an intraday record high of $1,607.90 an ounce.
Gold has hit a string of nominal records in recent sessions. Monday saw the 10th straight trading session of gains for the metal.
Barclays Capital analysts said that gold prices have continued to rally amid “a flight to safety” and “gold has drawn support from a raft of factors.”
Key factors include escalating European sovereign-debt uncertainty, with an emergency euro-area meeting scheduled for Thursday, as well as worries about U.S. debt, they said.
Silver for September delivery SI1U +1.22% rose 49 cents to trade at $40.84 an ounce.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
William L. Watts is a reporter for MarketWatch in Frankfurt.
