NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Gold closed at a 16-year high in New York Friday, helped along by continued weakness in the dollar in world currency markets.

Gold closed at $438.30, up $3.10 from Thursday's close. Some traders were speculating that the precious metal could soon cross the $450 an ounce mark.

Traders said gold had been "remarkably resilient" this week given the fall in oil prices and stocks surging to near 2-1/2 year highs, although the metal was still hooked mainly into currency moves.

"We have seen good interest from funds, along with some bouts of profit-taking. But whenever we see that, new customers are stepping in," David Holmes, vice-president at RBC Capital Markets said.

"The outlook for gold is positive and we have broken through some critical resistance levels."

Gold struggled for weeks to crack a band of selling at $430 an ounce before breaking through late last week, attracting another wave of fund buying despite an over-extended speculative long position on the New York market.

Analysts said improved sentiment in gold was also linked to talk of the imminent listing in New York of a new exchange traded fund for the metal.

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Traders were now looking for gold to target $450 an ounce, a level last visited in June 1988, with some touting $465 and above as a possibility. Gold last saw prices above $500 in mid-December 1987.

"Clearly the outlook for the currency markets, and in particular the U.S. dollar/euro exchange rate will be critical to the outlook for the gold market," HSBC metals analyst Alan Williamson said in a daily report.