Gold futures extended gains above $430 an ounce on Friday morning, shaking off an earlier slide, as the euro rebounded against the dollar despite a much stronger-than-expected US jobs report for October. By 10:23 am EST (1523 GMT), December gold rose $1.20 to $432 an ounce at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, in a range from $425.50 to $432.20 Thursday, the contract peaked at $434, which marked the highest price for an active futures month since July 1988.
Gold recouped losses on Friday after pulling back from Thursday's 16-year highs when a surprise 337,000 jump in October US non-farm payrolls lifted the dollar. Expectations had been for 169,000 new jobs.
But traders said sentiment on the euro was still bullish and there was renewed buying on the dip after the employment report, which along with firmer oil, propped up gold.
Analysts were projecting gold higher in the long term, with the euro strong after US President George W. Bush's re-election this week.
"The mix of another four years of Bush economic and political policies, geopolitical instabilities, particularly in the Middle East, and the threat of terrorism all suggest higher gold prices, with $440 my target for the year," said James Moore at thebulliondesk.com.
Spot gold hit $430.55/1.30 an ounce, versus $428.95/9.70 late Thursday in New York. The afternoon fix in London was $431.
The euro rose to $1.2893 from $1.2880 late Thursday. US crude climbed 48 cents to $49.30 a barrel.
Silver prices advanced but futures were still capped below technical resistance at $7.53 an ounce, the October 25 high.
December silver rose 5.2 cents to $7.435 an ounce, moving from $7.28 to $7.47. Spot hit $7.40/43, up from $7.39/42 previously. The London fix was $7.36. January platinum fell $2.60 to $846 an ounce, retreating further from the Sept. 28 high of $878. Spot platinum traded to $844.00/849.00.
December palladium rose 25 cents to $215 an ounce. Spot palladium was at $212.00/216.00.
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