US GOLD - US gold keeps rising:6/8/2010

New York, 06 August 2010 - US futures rose again on Friday and broke through $1,200 per ounce as disappointing jobs data and a weaker dollar had investors seeking the safety of the yellow metal.

December gold closed at $1,205.30 per ounce, up $6 or 0.5 percent from Thursday’s closing price of $1,199.30 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). Prices moved from an intraday low of $1,194.50 to a high of $1,213.30, the highest point since July 15.

Gold prices rallied $21.40 or 1.8 percent from last Friday’s closing price of $1,183.90 per ounce, boosted by both poor economic data in the US and expectations of greater demand in China.

Gold’s latest bounce came after today’s non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy shed 131,000 jobs last month, more than double the 63,000 expected and higher the 125,000 jobs lost in June.

The unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent, although it had been expected to rise to 9.6 percent.

The dollar, in turn, sank to 1.3334 against the euro, the lowest point since April 30, before moving to around 1.3280.

In other precious metals, September silver climbed 15.1 cents or 0.8 percent to $18.472 per ounce on the Comex. Silver prices rose 2.6 percent this week.

However, platinum prices declined 0.4 percent and palladium prices sank 2.5 percent this week - and they both kept falling today. October platinum slipped $1.70 or 0.1 percent to $1,570.80 per ounce and September palladium dropped $8.45 or 1.7 percent to $487.60 per ounce on the Nymex.