Daily Gold Update

Source: MarketWatch

New York— Gold futures briefly broke the psychologically important level of $1,000 an ounce Thursday, propelled by ongoing dollar weakness and bleak news from the financial sector. Gold soared as high as $1,001 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for April delivery was last up $17.50 at $998 an ounce.

"Gold prices looked set to finally achieve the $1,000 mark this morning, as background market conditions shifted from bad to worse overnight," said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers, in a research note. "This will likely become known as the Carlyle/Drake Rally," Nadler said. "The imminent doom of the bond fund and probable demise of the hedge fund sent icy shivers through the financial markets that way overshadowed the (brief) cheer we witnessed following the Fed's term facility plan the other day." Carlyle Capital, the bond fund affiliated with private equity firm The Carlyle Group, is on the verge of collapse after failing to agree a new financing deal with lenders. The fund said late Wednesday that it expects lenders will soon take possession of "substantially all" its remaining assets after it was unable to meet surging margin calls on its portfolio of residential-mortgage-backed securities. See full story.