Gold Touches New Record as Other Metals Fall

WEALTH CREATION

NEW YORK: Gold touched another record Thursday and settled higher.

Gold for February delivery jumped to a record US$1,227.50 before settling up $5.30 at $1,218.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Investors have been pushing into gold for much of 2009 to protect against an eventual rise in prices brought by a sliding dollar.

The advance Thursday occurred even while the greenback rose.

Other metals fell. March silver traded as high as $19.50 - a new high for the year - but settled down 19.7 cents at $19.128 an ounce.

March copper settled down 1.35 cents at $3.2450 a pound after reaching $3.2745. December platinum fell $12.60 to $1,492.70 an ounce.

Also at the Nymex, energy prices fell after the government said the amount of natural gas in storage posted a surprise increase.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 14 cents to settle at $76.46 a barrel.

Heating oil for January delivery rose 1.31 cents to settle at $2.0495 a gallon and gasoline rose less than a cent to settle at $1.993 a gallon.

Natural gas fell 7.1 cents to settle at $4.459 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Grain prices mostly fell at the Chicago Board of Trade. March wheat futures slid 4.5 cents to $5.7150 a bushel.

Corn for March delivery lost 5.75 cents to $4.0075 a bushel.

January soybeans rose 13 cents to $10.47 a bushel.

Cotton and sugar rose, while pork bellies fell. - AP