Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures on Thursday notched a 17th record-high settlement in a little more than five weeks, topping $1,370 an ounce as further weakness in the U.S. dollar boosted investment demand for the precious metal. Gold for December delivery advanced $7.10, or 0.5%, to $1,377.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost some steam after reaching an intraday high of $1,388.10 in electronic trading. On Wednesday, gold futures settled at their 16th record high in five weeks, closing at $1,370.50 in New York, up $23.80. See Wednesday�s metals column.

�The weakness of the dollar, as well as the perception that there�s going to more [monetary] easing has really accelerated� the move into gold as a safer storer of value, said Bruce Zaro, chief technical analyst at Delta Global Advisors. The dollar index, which compares the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.6% to 76.59. The dollar index has seen a �huge move� since June when it was at the 88.50 level, and is now nearing multiyear lows of around 74.50 that were seen last October, said Zaro. �In the intermediate or even short term, we would expect to see some firming in the dollar, and that is likely to take some of the upward steam out of all commodities, particularly in gold.� See full story.