us gold futures hits record high, page-10

Gold Reaches Another Record High
Monday January 28, 2008 14:30:00 EST

(RTTNews) - Gold hit another record high on Monday in U.S. trading as traders expect another interest rate cut later this week. February-dated gold contracts closed at $927.10, up $16.40 on the session. The precious metal reached as high as $929.80 in mid-day trading, topping the record high of $924.30 on Friday.


Traders are looking for another interest rate cut when the Federal Open Market Committee concludes its highly-anticipated two-day meeting on Thursday. Most experts predict rates to be lowered by either 25 or 50 basis points. This comes after the Fed's surprise 75 basis point cut to 3.5% last week in an effort to stop the economy from slipping into a clear recession.


Gold closed higher again on Friday in U.S., ending at $910.70, up $10.80 on the session. Prices soared past the $900 an ounce again on Thursday after experiencing some weakness in the days prior to that. Overall, gold has gained more than $75 an ounce since reaching a six-week low on Tuesday morning.


The dollar showed weakness during New York morning trading on Monday, hurt by lingering concerns about the economy. The greenback dropped to its lowest level in nearly 2 weeks against the euro, and reached a nearly 4-week low versus the pound. Gold usually moves opposite the dollar because of the precious metal's hedge value.


On the economic front Monday morning, the Department of Commerce released its report on new home sales in the month of December, showing that new home sales fell 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 604,000 in December from a revised November rate of 634,000. Economists had been sales to edge down to a 645,000 unit rate from the 647,000 unit rate originally reported for the previous month. Data released last week showed existing home sales saw a 2.2% decline to an annual rate of 4.89 million units in December.