Best week since early April for SilverSilver futures shine as gold loses steam
Silver posts best week since early April
Gold for December delivery added 20 cents, or less than 0.1%, to$1,237.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York MercantileExchange. On the week, gold has gained 0.7%, notching a fourthconsecutive weekly gain.
So far this month, gold has gained 5%, already making up for losses of 5% in July.
Silver touched a multimonth high earlier but also lost some steam asfloor trading drew to a close. Investors were mostly drawn to silver as acheaper alternative to gold.
Gold had gained about $4 an ounce before Federal Reserve Chairman BenBernanke's speech but dipped into the red afterward, alongside mostmarkets. It reversed higher as the dollar came off the day's highs.
Earlier Friday, Bernanke spoke at the annual Fed summer retreat inWyoming. He said the government would resist deflation but didn'tdirectly say whether the Fed would take new measures to combat theslower pace of the recovery.Read more about the Jackson Hole summit.
Investors continued to be worried about the pace of the economicrecovery, however. "[They] are embracing the current bullish trend forgold -- no one knows how good a recovery we're going to get here in theU.S.," said Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist with LindWaldock in Chicago.
The session was mixed, with traders taking a little bit of money off thetable ahead of the weekend and focusing on assets considered riskier,said Bill O'Neill, a principal with Logic Advisors in New Jersey. Goldmaintains a "high level of interest," however, he added.
Next week, with employment numbers due, looks promising from a price perspective. "I'd give gold an upward bias," O'Neill said.
Meanwhile, silver for September delivery added 6 cents, or 0.3%, to$19.04 an ounce. It posted an intraday high of $19.34 an ounce earlier.
Silver gained 5.8% this week, snapping a two-week losing streak andmaking it silver's best five-day period since early April. For themonth, silver has also gained 5.8%, which contrasts with losses of 3.8%in July.
Investors had fresh evidence that the recovery continues to be sluggishFriday. The Commerce Department reported the U.S. economy growing 1.6%in the second quarter, compared with first-quarter growth of 3.7%. Goldrose on the news.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch, however, had expected even slower 1.3% growth in the April-to-June quarter.Read more about the GDP report.
Bernanke's ready for action
Stephen Gallagher, Societe Generale's shief U.S. economist,discusses Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's pledge Friday inJackson Hole, Wyo., to do what it takes to support an economic recovery.
Other metals kept their gains despite gold's seesaw ride.
September copper kept gains intact, adding 6 cents, or 1.8%, to $3.36 a pound. That was copper's highest close in three weeks.
On the week, copper gained 2%.
Platinum and palladium ended mixed. Platinum for October deliveryretreated $2.90, or 0.2%, to $1,537 an ounce. Palladium for Septemberdelivery rose 55 cents to $503.05 an ounce.
The dollar index/quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0(
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.