LOS ANGELES (Market Watch) — It’s a new year for gold, and the precious metal seems bent on putting 2013, one of its worst stretches in decades, in the rear-view mirror.
Following the prior session’s surge, gold for February delivery GCG4 +0.88% was, once again, on the move north Friday, adding $6.40, or 0.5%, to $1,231.50 an ounce in electronic trade.
March silver SIH4 +0.23% , however, slipped 7 cents, or 0.3%, to $20.06 an ounce, though the mild decline did little to dent the contract’s almost-4% jump on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A day earlier, gold futures soared by nearly $23 an ounce on reports of physical buyers looking for bargains. China, in particular, was believed to be behind the piqued appetite. The Lunar New Year falls at the end of the month, and that usually means a strong period of gold buying.
Julian Jessop of Capital Economics can be counted in the gold bug camp. “We see plenty of scope for gold to bounce back in 2014,” he said.
“Indeed, the poor performance in 2013 has left the precious metal looking attractive again compared to other assets, including equities. The bursting of the bit-coin bubble may even make gold look more appealing to Chinese investors,” Jessop said.
Elsewhere in metals trading Friday, platinum for April delivery PLJ4 +0.51% was up $4.70, or 0.3%, to $1,409.30 an ounce, while March palladium PAH4 +0.30% tacked on a dollar, or 0.1%, to $731.25.
High-grade copper for March delivery HGH4 -0.70% lost a penny, or 0.4%, to $3.37 a pound.
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