SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Gold and oil prices received a surprise help from anti Mubarak protests in Egypt as both finished higher for the week on Friday in New York.
Gold futures on the Comex jumped the most since Nov. 4 as gold for February delivery added $27.50, or 2.1%, to $1,345.90 an ounce while most active gold contract for April delivery surged $21.9 , or 1.7 percent, to $1,341.7 an ounce.
Spot silver rose 3.5 per cent to $US27.82 an ounce.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March, soared $3.70 to $89.34 a barrel, a 4.3 per cent rise for the day while Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March surged $2.03 to $99.42 per barrel at the end of London trade.
Analysts said both these hot commodities are always linked to any major geo-political tensions around the world. For oil, it's fear of contagion to neighboring oil-rich countries. For gold, it has spurred flight-to-safety buying, they added.
Oil prices were also pushed upward by news that the US economy grew at its fastest clip in five years in 2010.
They said the precious yellow metal gained the most as violent protests in Egypt buoyed up investor's demand for the relative safety of the precious metal.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called out the army and declared a largely ignored curfew on Friday, as tens of thousands of protesters rampaged through the streets of major cities demanding his ouster.
