Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures gained modestly Friday, on hopes that talk of more fiscal union in Europe would pave the way for more central-bank stimulus measures and as they regained some of their safety allure ahead of a euro zone summit. Gold for February delivery, the most active contract, rose $11.50 an ounce, or 0.7%, to $1,751.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the week, gold gained 3.9%, snapping a two-week losing streak. That weekly gain was also the highest in six weeks. �There�s still quite a lot of skepticism about Europe,� said Frank Lesh, a broker and analyst with FuturePath in Chicago. �The dollar is holding us back a little.�

Gold had traded around $1,760 ahead of Friday�s U.S. Labor Department report on jobs, which showed the economy gained 120,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate sank to 8.6%. �Gold traders and investors seem more optimistic about recovery, looking at jobs figures and euro-zone pronouncements and stimulus, and more important, the inflationary aspects of this,� wrote George Gero, precious metals strategist at RBC Capital Markets, in emailed comments. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday had hinted that a tighter fiscal union would open the door to more aggressive action by the ECB, which some analysts say could equate to more quantitative easing. See full story.