Gold Ends Week 3.6% Higher as Wall Street Drops 3.5%; All Eyes "on Oil and Dollar"

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold Prices re-touched the week’s best level at the US opening on Friday, before slipping to end the day just 30 cents lower overall.

Silver dropped to $17.29 before bouncing to $17.62 and closing with a loss of 0.32%.

The Gold Price in Euros fell to about €577 per ounce, platinum gained $11.50 to $2053.50, and copper gained over 5 cents to about $3.83.

For the week, US-Dollar Gold Prices gained 3.6%.

“It was New York and COMEX that took the Gold Price back over $900,” writes Julian D.W. Phillips of GoldForecaster.com. “So both long and short-term investors are behind gold's rise this week, with their eyes on the Dollar and oil.

“Despite the oil producers conference this Sunday and despite the removal of subsidies on oil in China, the oil price has risen $3. On top of that the Dollar itself became anemic and fell back over $1.56, helping send gold up for US investors as it fell.”

Saudi Arabia’s Opec meeting this Sunday that is expected to officially announce a production increase of 550,000 barrels a day in July as compared to May.

But oil rose Friday as Israel performed a mock air-raid (or dry run attack on Iran), while Shell declared force majeure in Nigeria and suspended oil shipments after a militant attack.

The US Dollar index fell and treasuries rose as more worries about the credit market and the financial sector dragged the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P lower for most of the day and left them with roughly 2% losses for the day and nearer 3.5% losses for the week.

Gold and silver equities rose over 1% in the first hour of trade before they fell back off in afternoon trade, but they then rallied back higher into the close and ended mostly higher.

There were no major economic reports Friday. Next week’s economic highlights include US Consumer Confidence on Tuesday, Durable Goods Orders, New Home Sales, and the FOMC Policy Statement on Wednesday, GDP, Initial Jobless Claims, and Existing Home Sales on Thursday, and Personal Income and Spending and PCE Core Inflation on Friday.

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