Investors Buy More Gold As Dollar Resumes Decline

SARA LEPRO

NEW YORK (AP) — Investors resumed buying gold Friday as the dollar turned lower.

Other metals also rose. Oil prices, however, extended their slide, dropping to their lowest level in a month on growing concerns over anemic energy demand.

Gold more than recovered its losses from the previous day, when it broke an eight-day streak of gains due to a slightly stronger dollar. The December futures contract gained $10.10 to settle at $1,116.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, prices rose 2 percent.

Gold prices have been on a record-breaking climb over the past two months as investors look for an alternative investment to the dollar, which has fallen to its lowest levels in more than a year. The Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low of near zero, driving investors to buy stocks, commodities and bonds — assets with the potential to yield higher returns than cash.

Gold is also seen as a good hedge against inflation, which can be triggered by a falling dollar, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the dollar's decline.