Gold Rises on Demand for Dollar Alternative; Silver Climbs (Pham-Duy Nguyen)

Created by : Francis Goodwin View profile

The price of gold rises to the highest in almost a year. Silver is up, too.

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Gold in New York rose to the highest in almost a year as a decline in the value of the dollar boosted the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver also climbed.

Gold generally moves in the opposite direction of the dollar, which fell to the lowest in more than two years against six major currencies. Before today, gold had gained 6.5 percent this year, while the dollar index has dropped 1.5 percent.

``The dollar weakness is catching up to gold,'' said Ron Goodis, futures trading director at Equidex Brokerage Group Inc. in Closter, New Jersey. ``Gold looks strong.''

Gold futures for June delivery rose $10.20, or 1.5 percent, to $689.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price for the most- active contract since May 17.