US gold futures rose above $1,000 an ounce on Friday, trading at their highest level since March last year as nervous investors piled into the yellow metal to preserve wealth amid a tumbling stock market. Gold for April delivery settled up $25.70, or 2.6 percent, at $1,002.20 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
GOLD: Today's high of $1,007.70 marked the highest price since March 18. Bullion boosted by tumbling world stock markets and inflation worries fanned by massive US stimulus package - traders. A ratio of gold against the S&P 500 index rose to its highest level since September 1990, and gold-oil ratio was at its loftiest since December 1998, according to Reuters data.
Gold-oil ratio rose to 25.3 on Friday from 25.0 in the previous session. Trading of December $1,200 call options were extremely active, and gold could rise to between $1,200 and $1,300 by year end - Mihir Dange, COMEX gold floor trader. Gold's performance signals inflation has been in the pipeline, and bullion can really take off because of its relatively small market size compared to other asset classes - Axel Merk, portfolio manager of Merk Mutual Funds.
Traders definitely acting defensively by buying gold as, US stock indices are testing November lows - Rob Kurzatkowski, futures analyst of optionsXpress. Investment demand continued to support prices. New York's SPDR Gold Trust said its holdings rose nearly five tonnes to a record 1,028.98 tonnes Thursday, while the iShares Silver Trust's silver holdings climbed 18.4 tonnes to an all-time high of 7,892 tonnes.
COMEX estimated final volume at 152,368 lots, and options turnover at 25,977 contracts. COMEX gold open interests down 7,286 lots to 358,829 lots as of February 19. Spot gold hit a peak of $1,005.40, its strongest level since March 18. It was at $993.80 an ounce at 2:42 pm EST (1942 GMT), up 2.0 percent against $973.75 in New York late on Thursday.
SILVER: COMEX March silver finished up 55.5 cents, or 4.0 percent, at $14.490 an ounce on gold's rally. Range $13.965 to $14.545 an ounce, which marked the highest price since August 14. COMEX estimated final volume at 20,840 lots. Spot silver at $14.41 an ounce, up 2.9 percent from its Thursday finish.
PLATINUM: NYMEX April platinum ended up $19.20, or 1.8 percent, at $1,095.70 an ounce on broad-based precious metals strength. Spot platinum was at $1,081.00 an ounce, up 1.4 percent from its previous close.
PALLADIUM: March palladium closed down 5 cents at $216.55 an ounce as investors took a breather after recent gains. Spot palladium was at $212.50, down 0.5 percent from its late Thursday New York quote.