Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures crept to a record Thursday, a rise clipped by a strengthening dollar and diminished hopes for a third round of economic stimulus in the U.S. Gold for August delivery added $3.80, or 0.2%, to $1,589.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had earlier traded as high as $1,594.90 an ounce. Gold closed out the North American session on Wednesday at a then-record settlement of $1,585.50 an ounce, with buying supported by both the possibility of more stimulus being pumped into the U.S. economy and global debt worries.

That probability, although low, has been the main support for gold in the past two weeks, said Walter de Wet, an analyst at Standard Bank in London. Physical demand for the metal also has waned as buyers have shied away from the record prices, he added. Sales of scrap have risen, particularly in Asia, he said. Concerns about the U.S.�s protracted debt-ceiling negotiations are also a helping factor, although likely to have been priced in, de Wet said. See full story.