Gold rises to year and half high

Gold settles below $1,000 an ounce level

Precious metal prices ended higher on Tuesday, 08 September, 2009. Prices rose due to the weak dollar. The yellow metal rose to eighteen month highs today. Nevertheless, it settled below its intra day high price.

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 Tuesday, gold for December delivery ended at $997.3, higher by $3 (0.3%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. During intra day trading, prices rose to a high of $1006.9. Last week, gold ended higher by 4%. Year to date, gold prices are higher by 13.8%.

Gold ended August, 2009 higher by 0.2%. Before this, for the second quarter, gold ended higher by 0.5%. The metal had gained 4.3% in the first quarter of this year.

On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped somewhat (2.5%) since then.

On Tuesday, Comex silver futures for December delivery rose by 22.5 cents (1.4%) to $16.51 an ounce. Last week, silver ended higher by 9.9%.

Silver ended 7.1% higher for August, 2009. For second quarter, silver rose 4.5%. Year to date, silver has climbed 43% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.

In the currency market today, The U.S. dollar fell to a new yearly low versus the euro and tumbled versus other major rivals, undercut as investors continued to show rising appetite for risk. The dollar index, which measures the strength of dollar against a basket of other currencies, fell by 1.2%.

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

At the MCX, gold prices for October delivery closed lower by Rs 6 (0.03%) at Rs 15,721 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 15,889 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 15,670 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for December delivery closed Rs 141 (0.53%) higher at Rs 26,472/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 26,389/kg and rose to a high of Rs 27,018/Kg during the day's trading.