Gold Ends Week 2.7% Down, Gains in Euros, as Dollar & Yen Whack Stock Market

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold and silver traded mostly higher in Asia and London on Friday before they fell 1.2% and 1.4% respectively by 10:00 in New York.

Both Gold Prices and silver then shot upward to new session highs of $868.50 and $11.60 per ounce, but slipped into the close, after the Bureau for Labor Studies reported the worst drop in US employment since 1945.

2008's job losses totaled 2,589,000. Standing at 7.2%, the Unemployment Rate is now the highest since 1993.

The BLS net birth/death adjustment – a guess-timate of new business start-ups – added 72,000 payrolls to November's data.

Back in the markets, the Gold Price in Euros rose to €635, platinum gained to $989, and copper rose to $1.55.

Gold Mining and silver equities fell roughly 4% in the first hour of Friday's trade, before they rose to flirt with slight gains midday. But along with the major indices, they then fell back off in the last couple of hours of trade and ended about 2% lower.

For the week, Spot Gold in Dollars closed 2.7% lower. Silver lost 1.9%. The Dow dropped 4.8%. Ten-year Treasury yields fell to 2.40% as prices were bid higher. Both the Dollar and Yen rose on the currency markets.

Crude oil put in a near-historic 11.7% plunge.