国际英语新闻:Gold notches fourth straight record day

CHICAGO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended sharply higher on Friday, notching a new record-settlement high for the fourth time this week, as investors remained cautious about stocks and held more of the precious metal in search of safety.

The most active gold contract for December delivery hiked 30.2 dollars, or 1.7 percent, to 1,852.2 dollars per ounce. It traded as high as 1,881.40 dollars an ounce, an intraday record for the metal.

The precious metal registered a weekly gain of 6.3 percent. It also climbed 14 percent this month, having ended July at 1,631.2 dollars an ounce.

Market analysts mentioned that gold and silver were among the very few markets that managed to post gains this week, as spiking concerns that the global economy will fall back into recession gripped investors, with exporter stocks in many markets tumbling on concerns about weakening demand.

"It has become apparent that the fragility in the European Union's debt crisis have the New York Federal reserve questioning the stability of the Euro Region Banks," said Mike Daly, a gold specialist with PFBbest here in Chicago, "This along with the U.S. dollar notching a new record low versus the yen has investors questioning the stability of the world's economy," Daly added.

Meanwhile, gold also gained strength as the a slew of macroeconomic data, including Thursday's downbeat reading on factory activity in the Philadelphia region, showed the U.S. economy is showing new signs of fatigue, unsettling consumers and discouraging business

And many traders agreed that this week's rally has been supported by a huge underlying demand to buy physical bullion.

But Daly also warned that gold market remains technically overbought and very top heavy, investors should be cautious that any U.S. dollar friendly news could start a profit taking sell-off in the gold market.

Silver for Sept. delivery soared 1.744 dollars, or 4.3 percent, to 42.432 dollars per ounce. Platinum for Oct. delivery rose 27.2 dollars, or 1.5 percent, to 1,874.9 dollars per ounce.