Gold Jumps Above $900 on Record High Crude & 3-Decade Low in US Consumer Confidence - Saturday 17th May 2008

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold Prices rose about 1% in Asia and London on Friday before accelerating their gains in New York trade.

Crude oil rose to a new record intraday high of $127.82 on Goldman Sachs’ call for $141 a barrel in the second half off 2008.

Energy gains pared slightly after the Saudis announced they would increase production by 300,000 barrels a day to make up for shortfalls in other countries, but oil still closed with a nearly 2% gain at a new record closing high.

The US Dollar index fell and Treasury bonds rose after US consumer confidence came out at a 28-year low and pushed interest rates south in early trade. But bonds turned down to end with just slight gains as stocks rebounded in late trade.

The Gold Market ended near its high of $904.80 with a gain of 2.33% for the day, some $20 higher per ounce at a three-week high.

For the week Gold ended with its second weekly gain running, up 1.7%.

Silver rose to as high as $17.042 by late morning in New York on Friday before it fell back off slightly in the last couple of hours of trade. It still ended with a gain of 1.8%.

The Gold Price in Euros rose to about €577, platinum gained $51 to $2114.50, and copper gained nearly 9 cents to about $3.85.

Gold and silver equities rose nearly 3% at the open and remained near their highs into the close.

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Adrian Ash, 17 May '08

Adrian Ash runs the research desk at BullionVault, the world's No.1 private investor gold service online. Formerly head of editorial at Fleet Street Publications – London's top publisher of financial advice for private investors – he was City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning from 2003 to 2008, and is now a regular contributor to 321gold, FinancialSense, GoldSeek, Prudent Bear, SafeHaven and Whiskey & Gunpowder among many other leading investment websites. Adrian's views on the Gold Market have been sought by leading news organizations including the Financial Times, the Economist, Bloomberg and Der Stern in Germany.