Gold Futures Extend Rally

The dollar was weaker against the euro Thursday despite buoyant economic news, helping drive gold higher.

Prices for February-dated futures jumped $6.60 to close at $636.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The bullion ETFs, iShares COMEX Gold Trust(IAU Quote) and streetTRACKS Gold Shares(GLD Quote), were also gaining, up about 1.1% recently.

"Mostly it's been dollar-watching," says James Moore, a gold analyst at TheBullionDesk.com. "But the market has been thin, and the move shows we are very much in holiday mode."

Recently, one euro would buy $1.3147, up from $1.3125 late Wednesday. The dollar was doing marginally better elsewhere, buying 118.924 yen, vs. 118.78 previously. Over time, gold and the greenback tend to move in opposite directions.

A basket of favorable statistics on the U.S. economy did help partially stem the dollar drop against the euro, but did nothing to baffle the bullion rally.