Weak Data Hit Dollar, Aid Gold

Updated from 11:35 a.m. EST

Poor housing data undermined the dollar Friday, helping gold recover from an underwater start.

Gold for December delivery closed up 80 cents at $622.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, having dipped to an intraday low of $614.50. Open interest for the December contract slipped to 14.8 million ounces, from 15 million Thursday, with interest in the February contract unchanged at 9 million ounces. February-dated gold, which will takeover as the benchmark contract shortly, closed at $628.70, up 80 cents also.

The exchange-traded funds which hold the bullion, streetTracks Gold Shares and iShares Comex Gold Trust(IAU Quote), were gaining also, each up about 0.6% recently. ...