Gold hits five-week high


LONDON - Gold prices rose 1.7 per cent in Europe on Monday to a five-week high of $1,157.70 (U.S.), benefiting from weakness in the dollar as traders bet on U.S. interest rates staying low in the immediate future.

Spot gold was bid at $1,157.40 an ounce at 1037 GMT, against $1,137.90 late in New York on Friday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $19.00 to $1,157.90 an ounce.

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Among other precious metals.

Silver tracked gold higher to $18.76 an ounce against $18.44.

Platinum touched a 16-month high of $1,581 an ounce and was later at $1,580 against $1,574.50, while palladium was at $428 against $425.50.

Both platinum and palladium have benefited from the launch of the first U.S.-based ETPs backed by the metals on Friday.

"We think platinum is poised to substantially benefit from increased investment demand given its already favourable fundamental outlook," said Morgan Stanley in a note.

Platinum group metals traders will be closely eyeing news on global car sales for clues as to future demand for the autocatalyst materials.

Industry figures released on Monday showed China's auto sales surged past the United States to reach record levels in 2009, underscoring China's importance to the global auto industry as the world's biggest market.

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Oil edges higher as dollar sags


New York - Crude prices edged higher to end the week, despite huge supplies and tens of thousands of lost jobs in the U.S. last month.

Energy prices have rallied for weeks on some signs that manufacturing activity had picked in the U.S. and China, but again it was the falling U.S. dollar that inflated the price of crude Friday.

Crude and gasoline futures are up 15 per cent since mid-December and prices at the pump this week are higher than at any point last year.

Prices are rising steadily even as the job picture grows worse.

The U.S. government reported Friday that 85,000 jobs were lost in December. On the same day, UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, said it would cut 1,800 management and administrative jobs.

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Nickel, Copper, Aluminum,Lead, Zinc

http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/

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Gold & PGM Prices

Jan 11 2010 8:11AM NY Time dd Change Gold 1157.30 +1.72% Platinum 1589.00 +0.95% Palladium 428.00 +0.47% Rhodium 2600.00 +0.00%