Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures settled modestly higher on Friday but the mild gains were not enough to erase weekly losses of 2%. It was choppy trading for gold after European leaders failed to secure unanimous support for a new fiscal treaty but vowed to pursue an intergovernmental deal without all members. Then prices held on to a pattern of minuscule gains as a weaker dollar and rising U.S. stocks provided support for the metal. Gold has often tracked the broader market, abandoning its contrarian tendencies to perform as an asset considered riskier. Gold for February delivery settled $3.40, or 0.2%, higher at $1,716.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold had gained 3.9% in the previous week, the highest weekly gain in the past six. European leaders �stabilized the situation,� taking away fears the euro would crumble, but gold still lacks catalysts for going much higher, said Frank Lesh, a strategist and trader with FuturesPath in Chicago. Moreover, volumes were thin. �There�s really not too much you can do now that you can�t do in January,� Lesh said. Gold on Thursday settled at its lowest level in more than a week, largely on disappointment about the European Central Bank�s decision not to extend a bond-buying program. See full story.