BS: Gold Rises as Drop to Two-Week Low Spurs Buyers; Silver Gains
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose as the lowest price in two weeks attracted investors seeking a store of value. Silver also gained.
Gold touched $1,361.60 yesterday, the lowest since Nov. 29. In 2010, the precious metal has gained 25 percent, heading for the 10th straight annual gain, amid record investment in exchange-traded funds backed by physical metal. The price reached an all-time high of $1,432.50 an ounce on Dec. 7 as investors sought a haven amid Europe’s debt crisis and record- low interest rates in the U.S.
“When gold dips, people will come in and buy it,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “The Fed has kept open the door to more bond purchases, and the eurozone debt crisis is heating up again. That will keep a nice floor under gold prices.”
Gold futures for February delivery rose $4.30, or 0.3 percent, to $1,375.30 at 9:35 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The metal is still headed for a second straight weekly loss.
Silver futures for March delivery rose 16.8 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $28.95 an ounce on the Comex. Before today, the metal gained 71 percent this year.
Palladium futures for March delivery dropped $3.05, or 0.4 percent, to $739.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Platinum futures for January delivery declined $2 to $1,696.60 an ounce.
Before today, palladium surged 82 percent this year, and platinum was up 15 percent.
--Editors: Daniel Enoch, Patrick McKiernan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.