* Gold posts biggest 1-month rise since November 2009
* Euro debt crisis, economic fear spark flight to safety
* SPDR gold ETF holdings hit record 1,159 tonnes
* Coming up: US personal income, Core PCE index on Monday
(Recasts, adds comments, closing prices, changes byline,
dateline, previous LONDON)
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Gold hit a 2010 high above
$1,180 an ounce on Friday, gaining 1 percent as a widening euro
zone sovereign debt crisis prompted investors to buy the metal
asset in a flight to safety.
The precious metal has rallied almost 6 percent in April,
its biggest one-month rise since November, as credit ratings
downgrades of Greece, Spain and Portugal unleashed a wave of
risk aversion, channeling money into gold.
Michael Daly, gold specialist at futures broker PFGBest,
said that gold tends to outperform other commodities in times
of crisis, and the currency of choice is gold for investors who
worry about the viability of fiat currencies.
"In the last few days, it has almost turned into panic-type
buying. Every time you hit the wire, the European crisis
worsens, and it's worsening day by day," he said.
"Gold is taking on legs of its own right now. It's a flight
to safety."
Spot gold <XAU=> rose a high of $1,181.05 an ounce on
Friday, the firmest since Dec. 4. It was at $1,178.55 an ounce
at 2:27 p.m. EDT (1827 GMT), against $1,166.10 late in New York
on Thursday.
The metal ended the week nearly 2 percent.
U.S. June gold futures <GCM0> settled up $11.90, or 1
percent, at $1,180.70 an ounce on the COMEX division of the
NYMEX.
Financial markets were settling down slightly, helping the
euro to rally, on hopes that a multibillion-euro aid package
for Greece would be hammered out within days and prevent the
crisis from spilling over to other countries. []
But the fear of contagion was clearly evident in gold,
analysts said, with prices on track to move back towards their
December high, a record peak of $1,226.10 an ounce.
"Gold has had quite a big move this month," said Nick
Bullman, managing director of Bullman Investment Management.
"The buying has been based on default issues in Europe and
other debasement of currencies."
The euro <EUR=> climbed against the U.S. dollar for a third
straight day as expectations that Greece will soon receive
emergency aid helped calm jitters about how Athens will pay its
huge debts. It is on track to lose 2 percent this month.
[]
Earlier this week, fears about paper currencies also lifted
gold to record highs when priced in euros, sterling and Swiss
francs. Gold also set a 2010 peak in terms of Australian
dollars, and its highest in yen terms since 1983.
EQUITIES LOSSES, GLD GAINS HELP
Losses in Wall Street also prompted investors to switch
funds into bullion, with a U.S. federal probe into Goldman
Sachs and a government report showed the U.S. economy grew at a
slightly slower-than-expected pace in the first quarter.
[]
The world's largest gold exchange-traded fund, the SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings hit a record 1,159.002
tonnes as of April 29, up 6.089 tonnes from the previous day.
[]
Other precious metals with strong industrial properties
such as silver and platinum group metals recovered some of this
week's losses on Friday, tracking gains in the commodities
complex led by oil's 1 percent gains. [].
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For an interactive graphic showing the relative performance
of various commodities in 2010, click on:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/CMD_PRFG0410.swf
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Silver <XAG=> was at $18.64 an ounce against $18.43 in the
previous session, platinum <XPT=> was at $1,734.50 an ounce
versus $1,729 and palladium <XPD=> was at $549 against
$549.50.
Close Change Pct 2009 YTD
Chg Close % Chg
US gold <GCM0> 1180.70 11.9 1.0 1096.20 7.7
US silver <SIK0> 18.611 0.062 0.3 16.845 10.5
US platinum <PLN0> 1745.10 11.40 0.7 1471.00 18.6
US palladium <PAM0> 555.75 6.75 1.2 408.85 35.9
Prices at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT)
Gold <XAU=> 1178.35 12.25 1.1 1096.35 7.5
Silver <XAG=> 18.64 0.21 1.1 16.84 10.7
Platinum <XPT=> 1736.50 7.50 0.4 1465.50 18.5
Palladium <XPD=> 549.00 -0.500 -0.1 405.50 35.4
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1179.25 4.00 0.3 1104 6.8
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 18.62 47.00 2.6 16.99 9.6
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1738.00 1.00 0.1 1466 18.6
Palladium Fix<XPDFIX=> 552.00 1.00 0.2 402 37.3
(Additional reporting by Jan Harvey in London; Editing by
Marguerita Choy)
