Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

New York— Gold prices on Monday topped $1,400 an ounce, extending a winning run into a sixth day on heightened political unrest in the Mideast and North Africa. Gold futures rose 1.3% an ounce in New York and silver rallied 4.4%. Oil climbed and the Standard & Poor�s 500 Index futures were down 0.8% at 1,332.20. U.S. markets were closed due to the Presidents Day holiday. In Libya, security forces attacked anti-government demonstrators and in China, authorities blocked foreign coverage of protests across the nation, according to media reports.

�Investors are increasingly seeking a �safe haven� again amid the growing unrest in the Mideast,� wrote strategists at Commerzbank in a note. �Secondly, the price is being driven by speculative financial investors, who expanded their net long positions in gold by 9%� last week, they said. Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, rallied $17.40 to $1,406 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. Silver futures also climbed, with the March contract rising $1.42 to $33.72 an ounce on Globex. See full story.