Bargain hunters pick up gold on Black Friday

At the early lunchtime close on the Comex market gold for delivery in February, the most active contract, was changing hands at $1,251.00.

Around two-thirds of the usual the daily average of 150,000 contracts were traded.

Friday's jump helped to trim gold's November loss in value to 4.6%, after the metal earlier in the month dropped to levels last seen early July and within sight of the more than 3-year lows struck at the end of June when the metal briefly traded below the crucial $1,200 level.

Gold come under increasing pressure in November as large investors continued to shift money out of precious metals and into stocks.

US stocks this week set fresh records and year-to-date the S&P 500 index has risen 29%, the Euro Stoxx 50 Index is up almost 22%, and Japan's Nikkei has surged more than 50%.

In contrast gold has retreated 25% from its opening levels of $1,677 and is down more than $470 an ounce compared to this time last year.

Read More: www.mining.com/bargain-hunters-pick-up-gold-on-black-friday-81614/