Gold Adds 0.7% for the Week, Silver Adds 5.9%, as Fed Vows to Act "If Necessary" on Economy
Please Note: The London bullion market is closed Monday for August Bank Holiday. Live online dealing at BullionVault will of course continue, and the London Gold Market Report returns on Tuesday.
Here's Friday's Gold Seeker Report from Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...
Gold rallied from a low of $1233.83 in London on Friday to reach as high as $1242.20 a little before 09:00 New York time.
The Gold Price then swung back down to $1232.30 by mid-morning, climbing again but ultimately dipping to end the day unchanged.
New GDP data on Friday showed the US economy growing faster than analysts forecast in the second-quarter, but slowing to 1.6% from Jan-March's 2.4% annual pace.
US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told the Jackson Hole central-bankers' summit in Wyoming that the Fed "is prepared to provide additional monetary accommodation through unconventional measures if it proves necessary, especially if the outlook were to deteriorate significantly."
Price inflation – as measured on the GDP deflator of domestic US costs – rose from 1.8% to 1.9%.
Oil rose and the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P added more 1% on Friday, while Treasury bonds were markedly lower.
The US Dollar index ended slightly higher after the Yen fell on Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan's vow to take "decisive" action to rein in the soaring currency.
For the week, the Gold Price in Dollars added 0.7% to $1238 an ounce. Gold priced in Euro crept above €31,200 per kilo – also the best weekly finish since June.
Silver meantime climbed as high as $19.32 an ounce on Friday, before it dropped back off in the last couple hours of trade but still ended with a gain of 0.4% on the day, some 5.9% better on the week.
Platinum gained $3.75 to $1528.75, and copper climbed another 6 cents to about $3.36.
Gold Mining and silver equities fell about 1% in the first hour of Friday's trade before they rose to end with roughly 2% gains. The HUI index of gold and silver producers rose almost 4% for the week.
Next week's US economic highlights include Personal Income and Spending, plus Core PCE Prices on Monday; the Case-Shiller 20-city Index, Chicago PMI, and Consumer Confidence on Tuesday; ADP Employment, Construction Spending, and the ISM Index on Wednesday; Initial Jobless Claims, Productivity, Unit Labor Costs, Factory Orders, and Pending Home Sales on Thursday; and August's jobs data and ISM Services on Friday.