Gold & Silver Prices End Week Higher as US Stocks Fall, Crude Oil Surges Amid Libyan Turmoil

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold Prices climbed back to $1409.89 in Asia and then dropped back to $1399.20 in early London trade on Friday, holding well above Thursday night's sharp drop

The Gold Price then rallied back higher for most of the rest of Friday's US trade, and ended with a loss of just 0.4% on the day, some 1.5% higher for the week.

Silver Prices dropped $1.455 to $31.735 before rebounding to $33.13 and then falling back to $32.51 per ounce.

Silver then climbed back higher in New York and ended with a loss of just 0.6%, higher for the week by 1.6%.

Crude oil also recovered Thursday night's loss on disrupted exports from Libya, but a pledge from Saudi Arabia to raise its output seemed to limit any major gains.

The US Dollar index found slight gains, and the Gold Price in Euros remained at about €1025 per ounce, some 1% higher for the week.

US Treasury bonds rose on a weaker than expected economic-growth report. Gains were limited by a better than expected Michigan Sentiment report for Feb.

Revised US data showed GDP growing by just 2.8% at the end of 2010, not the 3.3% first estimated.

Domestic US prices, as measured by the GDP deflator, rose faster than previously reported.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose on relief over stabilizing oil prices, but still closed the week 2% down.

Platinum gained $20.50 to $1801.25, and copper gained 11 cents to about $4.44.

Gold Mining and silver equities rose roughly 2% at the open and remained near that level for the rest of the day.

Next week’s economic highlights include Personal Income and Spending, Core PCE Prices, Chicago PMI, and Pending Home Sales on Monday; Construction Spending and the ISM Index on Tuesday; ADP Employment and the Fed’s Beige Book on Wednesday; Initial Jobless Claims, Productivity, Unit Labor Costs, and ISM Services on Thursday; and Feb.’s jobs data and Factory Orders on Friday.

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