Daily Gold Update

Source:Marketwatch

New York— Gold futures ended lower Friday, reversing course as the metal lost momentum after hitting a record in the morning and as it battled a rising dollar. Gold for June delivery, the most active contract, declined $1.40, or 0.1%, to $1,227.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit an intraday high of $1,249.70 earlier, zipping past its record close of $1,243.10 an ounce on Wednesday, only to post losses. Prices fluctuated as gold entered its last hour of floor trading and briefly touched positive territory, but these gains were also short lived. Since Monday gold has risen nearly 2.5%. It's up more than 1.5% on the week. Other metals followed gold lower on Friday, with palladium and copper leading losses as they are more intrinsically connected to industrial uses.

More investors than ever held gold contracts on Thursday, the latest day for which figures are available. Open interest contracts for gold on Comex reached 599,058, the CME Group said, surpassing the previous record of 593,953 open-interest contracts hit January 15, 2008. Friday's numbers won't be known until later on the day. Despite the surge in interest, buyers on Friday appeared to have decided to take their profits following gold's recent price run-ups. The background for gold's rise is intact, said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst with Telvent DTN in Omaha. Ongoing worries about Europe's financial situation have spurred a flight to gold's perceived safety, and no one expects that to change anytime soon. See full story.