Gold hits another new high
Last Updated: Thursday, January 3, 2008 | 9:10 AM ET
CBC News
Gold prices reached another round of fresh highs on Thursday.
In morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the contract for gold for February delivery hit a high of $871.20 US an ounce.
The precious metal later retreated to trade at $860 US, exactly where it set a record settlement price on Wednesday.
Higher oil prices, a soft U.S. dollar and world political tensions have all been cited by analysts as reasons behind gold's latest rise.
After adjusting for inflation, however, gold is far from record levels. For gold prices to hit an inflation-adjusted record high, bullion would need to be worth about $2,200 US an ounce today, depending on which inflation measure is used.
A day after touching the new psychological high of $100 US a barrel, oil traded slightly higher following the release of U.S. government supply data. The February delivery contract for light sweet crude was up seven cents from Wednesday's close at $99.69 US a barrel.
In a weekly report, the U.S. Energy Department said U.S. crude oil inventories fell by about four million barrels last week. Analysts had been looking for a drop of 1.7 million barrels.
While oil inventories fell, supplies of gasoline and distillates, which include home heating oil, both rose. Analysts had been projecting declines in gasoline and distillates.
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