Daily Gold Update

Source: CBS.MarketWatch.com By Myra P. Saefong

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW)— Gold futures down in the session, up for the week

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures eased from end-of-April highs Friday as the U.S. dollar gained some ground against the euro, but still ended the week higher.

Metals trading on the exchange closed early Friday, ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Gold for June delivery closed at $394 an ounce, down 90 cents for the session, but up $9.20 from the week-ago close of $384.80. The contract closed Thursday just shy of $395, its highest closing level since April 27.

All in all, "gold is simply strong right now on the back of so many elements, fear of terrorism, and a weak, anemic dollar," said Kerr. See Currencies.

In other metals trading on Nymex, July copper tacked on 0.45 cent to close at $1.2775 per pound, while July silver closed at $6.11 an ounce, down 8.5 cents.

For the week, July copper is up 4.5 percent and silver is up about 4 percent.

June palladium closed at $257.45 an ounce, up $4.15, and July platinum lost $15.20 to close at $829.20 an ounce.

Metals traders kept an eye on the macroeconomic backdrop Friday, particularly a fresh reading on U.S. inflation.

Inflationary pressures eased in April as personal incomes rose at the fastest pace in five months, according to Commerce Department data. See full story.

This put some pressure on gold, which tends to be a safe-haven investment at times of inflationary pressures.

As for storage levels, copper supplies were down 1,652 short tons at 133,256 short tons as of late Thursday, according to Nymex. Silver stocks were down 597,583 troy ounces at 119.1 million troy ounces.

Gold inventories stood at 4.39 million troy ounces, down 54,683 troy ounces from the previous day.