Gold gains almost 4% in January, 2009
Bullion metal prices and weak economic reports pushed them higher on Friday, 30 January, 2009. Gold prices also rose as it increased the appeal of the metal as a safe haven against alternate investment. Gold rose despite the strong dollar.
Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa. But silver prices dropped.
On Friday, Comex Gold for February delivery rose $22.2 (2.4%) to close at $927.3 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, gold prices ended higher by 3.5%. For January, 2009, gold gained 3.9%.
On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped significantly (10%) since then.
On Friday, Comex silver futures for March delivery rose 42 cents (3.5%) to end at $12.565 an ounce. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.
The Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. economy contracted at a 3.8% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, a decline that would have been worse except that the government counts an unwanted buildup of goods on store shelves as growth. As adjusted, gross domestic product contracted at a 5.1% pace in the final three months of 2008, the weakest in 28 years. But still it was less bad than feared.
source: Capital Market
