Gold breaches $560/oz 24/03/2006 18:29 PM By: Justin Brown
Johannesburg - The spot price of gold on Friday breached the US$560 a troy ounce level for the first time in over two weeks as the metal played catch-up to gains in the price of silver and oil, traders said.
At 18:05, gold was $558.95/oz, up $9/oz from the metal's previous close.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, gold climbed to $560.35/oz, the metal's best level since March 6.
"Gold has looked the laggard and played catch up today," a London-based trader said.
For a while now gold had been consolidating between $545/oz and $555/oz and had spiked above $560/oz in a move initiated by fund buying and a silver price that was quoted at $10.70/oz, the trader added.
Silver was last quoted at $10.73/oz, up $0.06/oz from the Thursday close, after climbing to a multi-year high of $10.77/oz.
The gains in the oil price had also boosted gold, the trader said.
Spot Brent crude oil was last quoted at $63.70/oz, up $0.42/oz from the previous finish.
"The outlook for gold is price and I think it go test the highs soon," a trader said.
On February 2, gold climbed to a 25-year high of $575.36/oz or the highest level since January 1981.