Gold
futures rise $1,000 on flight to safety By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
Friday February 20, 2009, 10:53 am EST
NEW
YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold futures rose above $1,000 an
ounce on Friday as jittery investors turned to the yellow
metal to preserve wealth amid a tumbling stock market.
Long-term inflation worries fanned by the
massive U.S. economic stimulus package signed into law by
President Barack Obama this week has driven investors into
gold, which is perceived as the most likely asset to hold
its value if the dollar starts weakening.
"I think there's a little bit of panic
out there. Equities are setting new lows and gold is the place
to run to. I don't think there's much more than that,"
said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance in Boston.
U.S. gold reached its highest level of the
past seven months.
Gold futures for April delivery on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $17.70 to
$994.20 an ounce at 10:32 a.m. EST. They rose to a session
high of $1,000.30, their highest level since July 16.
Spot gold jumped to $998.50, its strongest
level since March 18. It was at $991.95 an ounce, up 1.9 percent
against $973.75 in New York late on Thursday.
The metal is poised to rise further, possibly
targeting last March's all-time high of $1,030.80 an ounce,
analysts said.
"The rally we've seen in the last few
days has been very much led by investment demand," Barclays
Capital analyst Suki Cooper said.
"Investors aren't looking at the normal
drivers -- they are sidelining the dollar strength, sidelining
deflationary concerns and lower oil prices. They are very
much buying gold as a safe-haven asset," Cooper said.
"There is potential for us to breach the $1,000 level."
Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said the
deteriorating macroeconomic picture and inflows into exchange-traded
funds were currently the main influences on the gold price,
now that the metal's usual relationship with the dollar had
broken down.
ETFs
More investment flowed into precious metals-backed
ETFs on Thursday, with figures released showing both the largest
gold ETF and the biggest silver-backed fund climbing to record
levels.
New York's SPDR Gold Trust said its holdings
rose nearly five tonnes to a record 1,028.98 tonnes on Thursday,
while the iShares Silver Trust's silver holdings climbed 18.4
tonnes to an all-time high of 7,892 tonnes.
Equity markets tumbled on Friday, with world
stocks dropping to their weakest levels since November. The
U.S. Dow index hit a six-year low on Thursday. Falling stocks
boost the appeal of safe-haven assets like gold.
The precious metal's usual external drivers,
oil and the dollar, exerted little influence. Gold traditionally
moves in the opposite direction to the U.S. currency, as it
can be used as a hedge against dollar weakness, and in line
with oil.
Grim euro zone data further pressured the
euro versus the dollar. Key gauges of euro zone services and
manufacturing activity released on Friday unexpectedly crashed
to new lows in February.
Oil prices, which often pull gold in their
wake, weakened as fears over the faltering global economy
depressed the demand outlook.
Among other precious metals, spot silver climbed
to $14.47 an ounce, up 3.2 percent from its last finish of
$13.01.
Spot platinum edged up to $1,083.50 an ounce
from its late Thursday quote of $1,066.50, while spot palladium
was largely unchanged at $213.50.