Gold Hits New 6-Month High in Slow Approach to $1,300
Published Dec 28, 2018 02:45PM ET
Investing.com - Gold's target for $1,300 remains intact, but gold bugs seem in no hurry to get there, awaiting equity markets to sink for the next big gold move higher.
COMEX gold futures hit new six-month highs on Friday, reaching $1,284.55 per troy ounce.
But instead of settling at those peaks in a push toward $1,300, the market gave back some, to finish up $1.45, or 0.1%, at $1,280.65.
Gold's retreat at the highs came as U.S. stocks flitted between gains and losses on Friday.
"Going into 2019, I expect the price of gold to benefit from geopolitical risks and a softening dollar," said Walter Pehowich, executive vice-president at Dillon Gage Metals in Addison, Texas. "I expect physical demand for gold to increase exponentially, as investors watch the U.S. debt explode and the costs of entitlements getting totally out of hand as our politicians continue to ignore all the warning signs."
The dollar index, measured against a basket of six currencies, hit a one-week low of 95.743.
For gold, it was the ninth positive close in 10 days of trading, boosted by the general slump in equities amid fears of a global recession and worries over the partial U.S. government shutdown since last week. For the year, though, gold remains on track for a 2% loss.
In other precious metals on COMEX, silver futures settled up 0.8% at $15.44 a troy ounce.
Palladium fell 0.8% to $1,185.20 per ounce. Sister metal platinum also lost 0.8% to finish at $789.80.
In base metals, COMEX copper rose 0.4% to settle at $2.68 per pound.
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Written By: Investing.com
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