Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures settled at a fresh seven-week high Thursday, garnering some support from safe-haven buying on the heels of unrest in Libya but giving up some of their earlier gains in the session. Gold for February delivery, the most active contract, added $1.80, or 0.1%, to $1,415.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was gold�s highest settlement since Jan. 3. Sustained violent clashes between the government and regime opponents in Libya have dampened investors� appetite for risk, and gold has added more than $12 per ounce in the couple of sessions prior to Thursday.

With the higher prices comes the possibility of short-term pullbacks, but longer-term gold still looks supported, said Tom Pawlicki, an analyst with MF Global in Chicago. �A hindrance is likely to be the high altitude already … Lack of support is also coming from physical demand,� analysts at Commerzbank said in a note to clients Thursday. The Indian Bullion Association has estimated that India�s imports are likely to be 60% lower in February, the Commerzbank analysts said. The long-term good prospects for gold prices are still intact, as �risk aversion and the inflation risks in connection with the oil-price trend should provide further upward lift on the gold market in the coming days in our view,� the Commerzbank analysts said. See full story.