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Gold hit an eight-week high above $620 an ounce on Thursday as investors jumped into a technical rally encouraged by a weaker dollar, analysts said.
Gold futures are up almost $52 since starting to rally on Oct. 24 from $576 an ounce, catalyzed by a break above the downward sloping trendline from the 26-year highs in May.
Upward momentum gathered in other precious metals, with platinum soaring 5.7 percent in catch-up technical buying.
December gold at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $8.50 to settle at $627.80 an ounce, topping at $628.30 in open outcry trade, the highest price since Sept. 8.
"There was a fund that came into the market this afternoon and bought large amounts of gold and platinum," a London trader said. "Otherwise its mostly to do with the weaker dollar and the slippage in U.S. data."
The run of weak U.S. data started last week with the release of below-forecast U.S. gross domestic product growth numbers for the third quarter and was followed by a survey showing weaker business activity in the U.S. Midwest in October.
Pressure on the dollar was reinforced Thursday when news that September U.S. factory orders rose 2.1 percent, less than the 4.0 percent rise expected, dovetailed with a report that business productivity growth stalled in the third quarter.
But the influence of the dollar was secondary to the technical buying. a New York bullion trader said.
Some investor money leaving the energy market has been directed to gold. Gold's acceleration higher this week also came as the Dow Jones industrial stock average <DJI> pulled back from last week's record high.
Traders are now looking to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for October for clues to the future direction of the U.S. economy, the dollar and gold prices.
Gold built enough upward momentum this week to break its correlation with NYMEX crude oil, which fell another 83 cents on doubts that OPEC can deliver on a planned production cut. Bullion dealers fixed London's afternoon spot reference price at $620.75 an ounce.
For most of this year gold prices have risen or fallen with crude oil prices, which hit record highs above $78 a barrel in July. Expectations that rising energy costs would fuel price pressure boosted gold, which is seen as an inflation hedge.
However, gold's separation from oil seems more and more final .
It is expected that the greenback would beweaken further over the next few months. And gold may get back to a higher price.
Another bullish signal is that gold prices in other currencies such as the euro are rising, suggesting real buying interest around the world and also perhaps expectations of further dollar falls, traders said. |
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發表於 2006-11-3 18:32:53
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