Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francsico— Gold futures ended with a burst of energy Friday, paring losses for the week, as the U.S. dollar came off its highs and bullion found support in buyers of physical gold looking to take advantage of a recent pullback. Gold for February delivery closed up $8.20, or 0.6%, at $1,379.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the U.S. session gold had slipped to $1,365.40 an ounce. Gains picked up speed as the session progressed, and the contract rose past $1,379 an ounce as the floor session neared its end. Gold has slipped 0.4% this week, but it�s still up about 25% this year after touching a record high above $1,400 an ounce.

Factoring into sentiment Friday, the dollar advanced against the euro after Moody�s Investors Service downgraded Ireland�s bond rating by five notches and analysts criticized the gathering of European Union leaders for failing to produce a far-reaching strategy to deal with future deficit problems. �One of the main drivers [for gold] was the euro,� said Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance in Geneva. �There are a lot tensions right now with Europe and the problems they have,� he said. See full story.