Gold Futures Hit Record High

Gold Futures hit a record high Friday, jumping more than $25 to $1,556.40 an ounce, while silver increased over 2 percent to $48.60 an ounce, helped by people investing in precious metals because they are wary of the weak U.S. dollar.

“The planet will continue to diversify its sovereign debt holdings into materials and stocks regardless of inflation,” said Richard Hastings, a macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities, adding that gold could approach $1,750 over the next two months.

The 1.7 percent increase for gold was the biggest one-day dollar gain for gold futures since Nov. 4, 2010 according to FactSet Research. Prices ended 3.5 percent higher for the week and an 8.1 percent increase for the month.

In comparison, the dollar index, which measures the U.S. dollar against six major currencies, was at its lowest level since July 2008.

Hastings said he would “caution” those who believe the gold market is “toppy and speculative.”

That’s not true, he said, “because the amount of money available from big banks globally looking to diversify their sovereign debt positions creates massive waves of speculative money available for materials in spots and stocks and forex.”

“I’d wait for the later summer to discover a more interesting inflection point, which perhaps would define a break from this pattern but until then, it’s all systems go,” he said.

Silver futures were up 5.5 percent for the week and 28% for the month.

“Silver bears might be feeling good on Friday, but the limited supplies and industrial requirements for silver as the global economy and Japan reconstruction expand will increase demand from the industrial side,” said Hastings.

In other future metals, palladium was up $16.85, platinum increased by $25.60, but copper fell 8 cents to end at $4.179 a pound.