Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

New York— Gold futures hit a new high on Tuesday, lifted by weakness in the dollar after Australia hiked interest rates and after a report that Gulf-area oil producers, along with China, Russia, Japan and France, are planning to eventually end dollar-based oil pricing. With the greenback under selling pressure, investors moved into dollar-denominated commodities such as gold. Gold for December delivery rose as high as $1,045.00 an ounce in electronic trade, topping the previous record of $1,033.90 in March 2008. It recently gained $16.30, or 1.6%, to $1,034.10 an ounce. Pushing through a new high is "very bullish for gold," said Tom di Galoma, strategist at Guggenheim Securities.

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, fell to 76.166 from 76.668 in late trading Monday. The report carried in the Independent newspaper was denied by top finance officials, giving the dollar a small, but temporary, lift in early European trading. According to Peter Spina, chief investment analyst at GoldSeek.com, trading gold and other currencies in exchange for oil would "establish gold as a recognized medium of exchange, returning it a step closer to its role as money on a world trade system." See full story.