Commodities: Gold bursts through $900
Gold rocketed higher Thursday, topping $900 an ounce, as a partial recover on Wall Street and the weaker dollar had buyers piling into the precious metal.
The February futures contract soared $22.70 to $905.80 an ounce in New York, having been as high as $911 earlier on.
"Clear expectations that the Fed will cut once again next week, and keep cutting until some further signs of progress emerge, continue to fuel the precious metals," said Kitco Bullion Dealers analyst Jon Nadler.
"An important resistance area at and around $900 was being probed this morning and was successfully accomplished," he added.
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On the energy markets, oil prices leapt over $2, the first gain in three sessions, after government data revealed a 2.3m barrel hike in US crude inventories last week.
US light crude for March delivery finished $2.42, or almost 3%, better on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $89.41 a barrel, just 11 cents off its high for the day.
Traders pointed to strength on Wall Street, which added over 100 points to the Dow Jones as President Bush and congressional leaders agreed on a $150bn fiscal stimulus package.
It was the second week in a row that oil supplies had risen, with stockpiles now standing at 289.4m barrels in the week to 18 January, according to the Energy Information Administration.
