Daily Gold Update

Source: MarketWatch

New York— Gold futures erased earlier losses, moving 0.6% higher to extend the gains of late last week as the dollar fell against rival currencies and as the U.S. stock market turned positive. Gold for December delivery rose $4.20 to stand at $746.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell $12.90 earlier to as low as $729.60. Gold jumped 5.3% on Friday, the biggest one-day percentage gain for the benchmark contract since Sept. 18. The metal ended last week's trading up 1.1%, gaining for a second consecutive week.

Despite gold's recent weakness, down more than 25% from its record high above $1,000 hit in March, it's "still doing an admirable job" in terms of wealth preservation, said Mark O'Byrne, executive director at Gold & Silver Investments. The metal's up 10% from its low in August 2007, when the financial crisis started. In contrast, the S&P 500 equities benchmark has slumped about 40%. See full story.