Gold price continues to creep up

Gold prices have continued towards the $900 mark, reaching another record high earlier today (January 11th).

Spot gold was at $898 a troy ounce earlier this afternoon, before dropping to $890.40, the Financial Times reports.

One analyst told the newspaper that the currently weak US dollar is still the main reason for gold prices' upward trend. It has also emerged that sterling is currently at record lows against the euro.

"Our new forecast is below the current [spot] price as we expect gold to decline in the second half of the year due to a recovery in the dollar," James Steele of HSBC said.

Concerns over the health of the US economy are continuing to spur investors to seek the relatively safe haven of gold.

A government official recently told Bloomberg that President George Bush is considering offering a tax rebate to Americans on low and mid-range incomes in order to ease fears over a possible recession.