Gold closes near all-time high

By Blake Ellis, staff reporter


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gold neared its all-time high on Friday amid ongoing concerns about contagion in the euro zone and as stocks slumped.

What prices are doing: Gold for June delivery rose $13.10 to settle at $1,210.40 an ounce, its highest level in five months.

Gold's all-time high is $1,226.1, which it reached in December, 2009.

On Thursday gold rallied as the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points and investors worried that Greece's debt issues may spread to other euro zone nations.

What's moving the market: Investors continued to seek out safer investments on Friday, still feeling uneasy after the massive sell-off in U.S. stocks during the previous session.

And as the stock market slid for a second day Friday, gold again reaped the benefits.

"The market's instability shows that fear has started to come back to the market, and that's definitely something that benefits the gold market," said Peter Spina, president of Gold Seek LLC.

Persistent worries about contagion in the euro zone also boosted the appeal of gold. After a bailout package was created for Greece last week, investors fear that other debt-laden euro zone members may need financial assistance as well.

"There are a lot more Greeces out there," Spina said. "You're looking at Spain, Portugal and others down the road that are all potential problems -- there are just a lot of questions out there and I think that will help drive more money into gold."

And as the euro weakens, investors are worried that there is no other safe place to put their money, said Spina.

"The dollar has had its issues recently and the alternative has always been the euro," he said. "But now that the euro has been having its own problems, where do you put your money?"

Outlook: Spina said that while gold may pull back slightly from its recent run-up, prices will remain strong as investors continue to worry about debt issues in Greece and the euro zone.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this [run-up] pulls back and consolidates, but we may get to a point in the next month or couple of weeks when gold will make another stab at these record highs," he said.

Spina said gold prices could even hit $1,300 this summer, which would be a new record high. To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.