Gold Gains, Stocks Tumble on Failed Auto Bail-Out, Jobless Data

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold fell back off about 0.5% in Asia on Thursday, but then rallied higher in London and climbed as high as $834.60 with a gain of $25.90 per ounce by 08:15 EST.

Gold Prices then pared those gains but still ended 2.2% higher for the session.

Silver also fell slightly in Asia before it climbed as high as $10.528 by the New York open. It ended with a gain of 2.56%.

The Gold Price in British Pounds rose to a New Record High over £559 an ounce, Euro gold fell back near €618, platinum gained $1 to $830, and copper gained nearly 2 cents to about $1.49.

Gold Mining and silver equities rose over 6% in the first hour of trade before they roughly halved their gains by late morning and then returned back near their highs by early afternoon, but they then fell back off again into the close as the major indices dropped and the miners ended slightly lower on the day.

On the data front, Initial US Jobless Claims rose to a new 26-year high. Import and Export Prices both dropped a record amount.

Oil rose over 10% on talk over a "severe" Opec output cut and signs of rebounding demand as the US Dollar index plummeted 2% on poor economic data and the prospect that the ECB may no longer cut interest rates along with the Fed.

Treasuries rose as the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P tumbled, ending about 3% lower on worries over the economy and news that political agreement over the automakers' bail-out failed.

Friday at 13:30 GMT brings Producer Price inflation for November, expected down 2.0%, plus Core PPI – minus oil and food – expected to show a 0.1% rise. Retail Sales for November are forecast sharply lower. Then comes the Business Inventories report for October and Michigan Sentiment for December.