Capital Gold Group Report: Gold Up as Investors Look for Safety Before the Weekend
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold prices edged higher on Friday after a two-day retreat, but a rise in U.S. consumer sentiment took some of bullion's shine in midday trading.
Gold futures for August delivery, the most active contract, gained $2.40, or 0.2%, to $1,224.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold had been on a march downwards since closing at a record $1,245.60 on Tuesday.
Gold had dipped into negative territory, however, shortly after news that the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index increased to 75.5 in June from 73.6 in May.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been expecting the index to hit 74. The consumer-sentiment barometer hit a 30-year low of 55.3 in November 2008.
Prices settled lower on Thursday, slipping $7.70, or 0.6%, to $1,222.20 after the embattled euro got a lift from a German court declining to immediately block the country's contribution to efforts to prevent defaults in the euro zone.
The metal is down 1.6% from the Tuesday record close. But, as a gauge of continued investor interest for bullion, holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 119.98, +1.01, +0.85%) , the largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, rose to a fresh record Thursday.
The fund reported 1,306.14 metric tons (1,439.77 short tons) in holdings, from 1.298.53 metric tons earlier in the week.
Other gold-backed ETFs also reported rising gold holdings, analysts at Commerzbank said in a note to clients Friday.
"This trend shows that medium to long-term investors see further risks on the horizon and view the lower gold prices as an opportunity to buy," they said.
U.S. stock pared losses following the consumer-sentiment data. Stocks and other commodities such as oil had posted deeper retreats as the Commerce Department Friday reported that U.S. retail sales fell a surprising 1.2% in May, the first drop in eight months.
The euro (CUR EURUSD 1.2062, -0.0045, -0.3717%) , viewed as a gauge of investor confidence in the European Union, fell Friday to $1.21. The currency used by 16 nations is down about 16% so far this year.
The dollar index (DXY 87.58, +0.41, +0.47%) , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, rose modestly to 87.31Capital Gold Group, gold group, gold, gold prices, gold news, gold coins, gold bullion, gold IRA, IRA gold
