Precious metals gain on the last day of the week

Despite that prices register loses for the week

After four successive sessions of drop, bullion metals ended higher for the first time in the week on Friday, 16 January, 2009 as the dollar weakened. Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa.

On Friday, Comex Gold for February delivery rose $32.6 (4.03%) to close at $839.9 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, gold prices ended down by 1.8%. This year gold has lost 5.3% till date. On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped significantly (21%) since then.

On Friday, Comex silver futures for March delivery gained 77.5 cents (7.4%) to end at $11.215 an ounce. For the week, silver has lost 10.5 cents. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.

At the currency market on Friday, the dollar was down against most major counterparts. The U.S. dollar fell due to weak batch of economic reports. The dollar fell on Friday after the Labor Department reported that U.S. consumer prices rose just 0.1% in 2008, the smallest increase in 54 years. The consumer price index fell 0.7% in December, the third decline in a row, led by an 8.3% drop in energy prices and a 0.1% drop in food prices.

In 2008, gold prices ended higher by 5.5%. The dollar index had gained 12% that year