Tokyo gold futures extended gains on Friday rising for the fourth consecutive day to come within grasp of 2,600 yen, although trade was slow ahead of a long Easter holiday weekend in the United States.
The benchmark most-distant February gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange finished up eight yen per gram, or 0.3 percent, at 2,599 yen, the day's high. The session trough was 2,592 yen, up one yen from Thursday's close. On Friday's closing level was up about 9.3 percent from an eight-week low of 2,378 yen, marked on March 6. Turnover on TOCOM was an estimated light 29,706 lots, underscoring the thinness of the market.
"With the US market starting a holiday weekend, players are mostly adjusting their positions with attention given to the currency market," said Koji Suzuki, a market analyst at Kazakh Commodity Co Ltd. Suzuki said gold could go through some dips as funds move to lock in their profits, but he added that there were more factors to provide support in the long term.
Just this week, precious metals consultant GFMS Ltd said in its Gold Survey 2007 that it expects to see gold set a record annual average price this year. It also said the metal could scale absolute peaks on a weaker dollar outlook, US economic slowdown and political tensions.
The average gold price was $603.77 per ounce last year. Spot gold was fetching $673.10/$674.10 an ounce, compared with $674.40/$674.90 last quoted in New York. US gold futures finished just $2 higher on Thursday, despite the dollar's slide against the euro as investors covered shorts and added to their long positions ahead of the holiday weekend.
Most-active gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up $2.00 at $679.50 an ounce. In the currency market, the dollar hung near a two-year low against the euro on Friday as investors braced for United States employment figures due later in the session that could put more selling pressure on the US currency.
Non-farm payrolls due are expected to show that 120,000 new jobs were created in March. The dollar was fetching 118.74/118.79 yen, against 118.69/118.73 yen in late New York trade.
Elsewhere, TOCOM precious metals were mostly firmer inspired by gold's strength. February TOCOM silver closed up 3.8 yen at 522.8 yen per 10 grams. Spot silver was at $13.70/$13.75 an ounce versus $13.68/$13.71 in New York. Benchmark February platinum futures contract was up 20 yen at 4,720 yen. Spot platinum was flat at $1,252/$1,257. February TOCOM palladium contract finished flat at 1,367 yen. Spot palladium was also unchanged at $351/$356 an ounce.
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