Investing.com – Gold futures were up for an eighth day on Wednesday, hovering below a record high as mounting concerns over sovereign debt contagion in the euro zone and a weaker U.S. dollar boosted the appeal of the precious metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at USD1,572.25 a troy ounce during late Asian trade, edging 0.25% higher.
It earlier fell as much as 0.3% to trade at a daily high of USD1,573.65 a troy ounce, less than 0.4% away from an all-time high of USD1,577.15 a troy ounce it reached on May 2.
Euro-denominated gold rose to a record high of EUR1,122.75 a troy ounce for the third consecutive session.
Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Ireland’s government debt ratings by one notch to junk status on Tuesday, saying it was likely the country would need another bailout in late 2013 when the current support program ends.
European Union leaders were to hold an emergency summit on Friday after policymakers acknowledged that some form of Greek default may be needed in order to put the country’s debt on a more sustainable footing and prevent contagion to Italy and Spain.
Meanwhile, prices were also boosted after the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee showed that some policymakers believe further monetary policy easing may be necessary if economic growth remained sluggish or if inflation returned to relatively low levels.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.5% to trade at 76.04. Gold prices often move inversely to the U.S. dollar, as gold becomes less expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Global financial service provider UBS said that it expected gold prices to trade above USD1,600 in the third quarter of 2011.
“Gold should outperform due to its safe haven role, a lingering soft patch, a persistent sovereign risk premium, and the continuation of negative real rates in gold’s important markets,” the lender said in a report released late Tuesday.
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery rallied 2% to trade at USD36.82 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery gained 1.03% to trade at USD4.431 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at USD1,572.25 a troy ounce during late Asian trade, edging 0.25% higher.
It earlier fell as much as 0.3% to trade at a daily high of USD1,573.65 a troy ounce, less than 0.4% away from an all-time high of USD1,577.15 a troy ounce it reached on May 2.
Euro-denominated gold rose to a record high of EUR1,122.75 a troy ounce for the third consecutive session.
Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Ireland’s government debt ratings by one notch to junk status on Tuesday, saying it was likely the country would need another bailout in late 2013 when the current support program ends.
European Union leaders were to hold an emergency summit on Friday after policymakers acknowledged that some form of Greek default may be needed in order to put the country’s debt on a more sustainable footing and prevent contagion to Italy and Spain.
Meanwhile, prices were also boosted after the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee showed that some policymakers believe further monetary policy easing may be necessary if economic growth remained sluggish or if inflation returned to relatively low levels.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.5% to trade at 76.04. Gold prices often move inversely to the U.S. dollar, as gold becomes less expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Global financial service provider UBS said that it expected gold prices to trade above USD1,600 in the third quarter of 2011.
“Gold should outperform due to its safe haven role, a lingering soft patch, a persistent sovereign risk premium, and the continuation of negative real rates in gold’s important markets,” the lender said in a report released late Tuesday.
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery rallied 2% to trade at USD36.82 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery gained 1.03% to trade at USD4.431 a pound.