Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures surged to another record Friday as investors held a dim view of global growth prospects and sought instead the perceived safety of the metal. Gold for December delivery advanced $30.20, or 1.7%, to $1,852.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded as high as $1,881.40 an ounce, an intraday record for the metal. �We could hit $2,000 as early as next week sometime at this rate, certainly in the next weeks,� said Matt Zeman, head trader and strategist at Kingsview Financial in Chicago.

Gold added 6.4% in the week. It has gained 14% this month, having ended July at $1,631.20 an ounce. Friday�s record supplants the previous high-mark hit on Thursday, when gold ended at $1,822 an ounce. Investors have flocked to gold as a slew of recent macroeconomic reports pointed to a wobbly U.S. economy and very little reason for optimism — including Thursday�s downbeat reading on factory activity in the Philadelphia region. Investors have also worried about the health of European banks and the euro zone�s ongoing sovereign-debt crisis. See full story.