Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures traded lower Friday, extending the previous session�s fall as investors took profits after a record-studded run earlier in the week. Gold for December delivery lost $8.90, or 0.5%, to $1,742.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. But the earlier rallies guaranteed a gain for the week. Gold rose 5.5% for the five-day period, which included an intraday record of $1,801 an ounce and a settlement record on Wednesday. Gold has posted gains for six weeks. �We�ve come a long way with gold, and we are seeing some profit-taking in the market,� said Frank Lesh, a broker and futures analyst with FuturePath Trading in Chicago. �We braced for the demise of an European bank, and we didn�t have that … we are unwinding that fear trade.�

Earlier this week, markets were abuzz with concerns a large French bank might be in trouble and France could be the next developed nation to lose its triple-A bond rating, which would come on the heels of a downgrade for U.S. credit by Standard & Poor�s last week. On Friday, gold pared some of its losses after consumer-sentiment data showed consumers at their most pessimistic in three decades, but the respite proved to be short-lived. The University of Michigan/Reuters index tumbled to 54.9 in August, the lowest since May 1980, from 63.7 in July. See full story.