Gold rises for first session in four after dollar retreats

• Source: Xinhua
• [08:59 February 26 2010]
• Comments

Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended higher for the first time in this week on Thursday, as dollar gave up some gains. Silver and platinum both went up.

The most active gold contract for April delivery rallied $11.30, or 0.9 percent, to finish at $1,108.50, despite hitting a two-week low of 1088.50.

On concerns that Greece's debt crisis may deteriorate, investors' risk aversion pushed dollar to climb higher overnight. After the Labor Department's worse-than-expected jobless data, the greenback gained more strength to rise, helping the dollar index touch a one-week high.

However, the greenback gave back some gains at noon, buoying the precious metal to bounce from the weakest level in two weeks.

Analysts also said some technical buyers may have come in after gold fell for three consecutive sessions this week. The April contract has lost as most as $33 by the time when gold dipped to a new low.

May silver was up 16.9 cents to $16.132 per ounce. April platinum gained $23.90 to $1,531.20 an ounce.