Gold Ends A Tad Higher; Gains 1% For Week

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended a tad higher for a third straight session on Friday, as investors opted for the precious metal while tracking declining global equity markets. Investors continued to look for direction with little or no cues in the form of any major economic indicators, after the precious metal jumped to over a two-month high yesterday.

For the week, gold gained about 1 percent.

Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged up $2.00 or 0.2 percent to close at $1,264.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

Gold for February delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,273.20 and a low of $1,256.80 an ounce.

Yesterday, gold snapped its two-session loosing streak to settle near a 10-week high tracking declining global equity markets after some soft economic data from China and on demand growth prospects with reports that India may ease curbs on import of the precious metal.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 790.46 tons from 795.85 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.49 on Friday, up from its previous close of 80.48 late Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.56 intraday and a low of 80.15.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3677 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3696 late Thursday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3738 intraday and a low of $1.3664.

In economic news, U.K. mortgage approvals increased less than expected in December, figures released by the British Bankers' Association said. The number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose to 46,521 from 45,394 in November. The figure was less than an expected 47,300.