Gold ends at six-month high on safe-haven buying

Holdings in the largest gold ETF have leaped 8% in one month to record high

By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch

Last update: 2:32 p.m. EST Jan. 30, 2009

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose Friday, ending the week at their highest level in six months as investors sought the safety of the metal following government data that showed the U.S. economy contracted the most in 27 years during the fourth quarter.

Rising demand for the metal has pushed holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, to a new record level.

Gold for February delivery closed up $22.20, or 2.4%, at $927.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the loftiest closing level for a front-month contract since July.

The benchmark contract has risen 3.5% this week and 4.9% this month.

"Demand remains very high internationally for ETFs, gold certificates and bullion coins and bars," said Mark O'Byrne, executive director at Gold and Silver Investments. We've seen "continuing safe haven demand for gold" due to "sharp deterioration in the global economy."

Spurring the safe-haven moves into gold, the government reported that the nation's gross domestic product contracted at a 3.8% annualized rate in the fourth quarter. That shrinkage is the largest on record since the first quarter of 1982.

Most economists expected that GDP would shrink at a 5.5% annual rate.

However, the decline would have been worse except that the government counts an unwanted buildup of goods on store shelves as growth. Excluding the inventory buildup, GDP contracted at a 5.1% pace. See Economic Report on GDP data.

In spot trading, the London afternoon gold-fixing price -- a benchmark for gold traded directly between big institutions -- stood at $919.50 an ounce Friday, up $27.25 from the previous day.

SPDR holdings

On Thursday alone, holdings in the SPDR gold fund rose 10.49 tons, or 1.3%, to reach the new high of 843.59 tons, according to latest data from the fund. SPDR gold holdings have jumped 63 tons, or 8%, in January.

The fund's gold holdings are now nearly 80 tons higher than official gold holdings in Japan, the world's seventh-largest official gold holder.

The SPDR Gold Trust .

In other economic news, U.S. employment costs rose at the slowest pace in at least 26 years in 2008, the Labor Department reported, a sign that rising unemployment has been keeping a lid on wages and benefits. See Economic Report on unemployment.

Also on the Nymex Friday, March copper rose 0.8% to $1.4685 a pound, while March silver rose 3.5% to $12.565 an ounce. March palladium gained 1.3% to $193.30 an ounce, while April platinum gained 1.7% to $991.30 an ounce.

Among gold miners, shares of Barrick Gold Corp. , the world's largest gold mining company, fell 1.8% to $37.88. Goldcorp Inc. gained 0.8% to $29.73, and South Africa's Gold Fields Ltd. lost 0.8% to $10.56.

In other equities, the Amex Gold Bugs Index , which tracks the share prices of major gold companies, rose 2.4% to 309.15.

The iShares Gold Trust ETF added 1.8% to $91.18, while the iShares Silver Trust ETF gained 1.5% to $12.44.

The Market Vectors-Gold Miners ETF rose 2% to $35.10.

Moming Zhou is a MarketWatch reporter based in New York.