Gold Prices Close Notably Higher To Finish Out The Week

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Gold prices showed a strong upward move during trading on Friday, more than offsetting the steep decline that was seen on Monday. The price increase came despite some strength in the value of the U.S. dollar.

After moving roughly sideways in the three previous sessions, gold for December delivery closed up $11.50 at $958.80 an ounce. While the price of the precious metal closed well off its high of $964.60 an ounce, it still showed a modest gain for the week.

While gold typically moves opposite to the value of the U.S. dollar, the previous metal held onto the bulk of its gains even as the greenback moved moderately higher against most of the other major currencies.

The price increase also came as traders digested some key economic data, including a report from Reuters and the University of Michigan showing a much bigger than expected upward revision to their consumer sentiment index for the month of August.

In other metals trading, silver for September delivery surged up $0.564 to $14.784 an ounce, while copper for September delivery rose $0.0745 to $2.923 a pound.

On the economic front, Reuters and the University of Michigan said their final consumer sentiment index reading for August came in at 65.7 compared to the mid-month reading of 63.2. The revised index came in well above economist estimates of 64.0.

Separately, the Commerce Department said that personal income was nearly unchanged in July following a revised decrease of 1.1 percent in June. Economists had expected income to increase by 0.1 percent compared to the 1.3 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed that personal spending rose 0.2 percent in July compared to an upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in the previous month. The modest increase came in line with economist estimates.

With income unchanged and spending rising, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income fell to 4.2 percent in July compared with 4.5 percent in June.

Economic data is likely to be in focus next week, with the Labor Department scheduled to release its monthly employment report on Friday. The report is expected to show that non-farm payroll employment fell by 225,000 jobs in August.

Gold prices showed a strong upward move during trading on Friday, more than offsetting the steep decline that was seen on Monday. The price increase came despite some strength in the value of the U.S. dollar. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)