NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures shrugged off slight losses Friday as momentum for the metal's rally toward $1,400 remains intact.
The most-actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, was recently up $8.80, or 0.6%, at $1,391.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"We're clearly in an uptrend," said Scott Meyers, senior trading analyst with the Pioneer Futures division of MF Global. "I think you're going to see $1,400 if not today then early next week."
Investors' reasons for buying gold have shifted over recent months, but buying remains stronger than ever. They have clamored for gold as a perceived refuge from European sovereign debt worries. More recently, participants have been buying the metal to hedge declining currencies amid worries about governments competing to support their exporters by pressuring their currencies.
The most recent record settlment came Thursday at $1,383.10 on worries about the impact on the dollar of the Federal Reserve's plan to spend $600 billion buying Treasury bonds over eight months. December gold hit an intraday record of $1,394.40 overnight.
Stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data briefly pressured gold by boosting the dollar, prompting some to cash in high gold prices. But the buck later pared some of those gains.
"This is some consolidation," said Carlos Sanchez, associate director of research with New York commodities consultancy CPM Group. "$1,400 is that resistance level to break above."
Friday's government data showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by a greater-than-expected 151,000 last month as private-sector employers added 159,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at a lofty 9.6% in October.
Economists had forecast payrolls would rise by only 60,000 and the jobless rate would remain unchanged at 9.6%.
(source:online.wsj.com)
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