Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

New York— Gold futures ended 2% lower Friday as news that U.S. authorities charged Goldman Sachs Group Inc. with fraud rocked markets and triggered a sell-off in commodities. Gold futures for June delivery, the most active contract, declined $23.40 to settle at $1,136.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices have lost 2.5% in the week.

An earlier run-of-the-mill wave of consolidation on the back of a stronger dollar spiraled as investors fled riskier assets such as gold to seek safety in U.S. Treasurys following the Goldman Sachs news. "The biggest firm in the world was doing the unthinkable, and that scares people, it makes people unsure," said James Cordier, a portfolio manager at OptionSellers.com in Florida. Markets were stunned to learn that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit accusing Goldman Sachs and one of its vice presidents of defrauding investors in connection with a mortgage derivative. See full story.