U.S. gold up in morning, girds for $1,000Fri Feb 29, 2008...

U.S. gold up in morning, girds for $1,000
Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:24am EST . NEW YORK, Feb 29 (Reuters) - The sliding U.S dollar lifted
New York gold futures to their third consecutive record high
early Friday, as traders bet that the historic commodities rally
would soon see the precious metal above $1,000 an ounce. New York silver futures, meanwhile, broke the
much-anticipated $20 an ounce level. At 11:05 a.m. EST (1605 GMT), the benchmark April gold
contract GCJ8 on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange was up $5.30, or 0.55 percent, at $972.80 per ounce, "It feels like the momentum is definitely there," said a
trader at a bullion trading firm in New York. "One thousand (dollars) is next target everyone is looking
at and with the U.S. dollar at an all-time low against a basket
of currencies, especially against the euro, it looks like gold
could definitely get up to those levels." COMEX's April gold had settled up $6.50 at $967.50 on
Thursday, after reaching $974.80, its second record in as many
days. Much of the ammunition for the rally came from record lows
struck by the dollar against the euro this week. The dollar remained highly vulnerable on Friday, hitting
three-year lows against the yen. [USD/] At 10:27 a.m. EST, spot gold in New York was quoted
at $967.80/968.70, off slightly from Thursday's close of
$968.90/969.70. London bullion dealers fixed the morning spot
price at $971.50. COMEX estimated gold futures volume by 10 a.m. stood at
71,125 lots.