Gold and silver prices climbed to their highest in seven weeks on Monday, as the dollar’s slide to its lowest since mid-December boosted interest in hard assets.

Spot gold hit an intra-day high of $961.00 an ounce, its highest since June 11, and was bid at $959.10 an ounce at 1329 GMT, against $953.90 an ounce late in New York on Friday.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $5.70 to $959.40 an ounce.

“At the moment we’re seeing the dollar as the key factor to movements in the gold market,” said Eugen Weinberg, senior analyst at Commerzbank.

“In the past few months (gold) has gone from being a safe haven to becoming a dollar play. The dollar right now is so weak because no one is looking for a safe haven — because corporate results are so good and stock markets are performing so well.”

Silver was

Gold rose on Thursday as the dollar fell versus a basket of currencies, with rebounding stock markets and U.S. jobless figures showing a decline in continuing claims boosting appetite for assets seen as higher risk.

U.S. data showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose slightly more than expected last week, but a gauge of underlying labor trends fell for a fifth straight week.

Spot gold was bid at $933.50 an ounce at 1311 GMT, against $929.00 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $6.20 to $933.40 an ounce.

“If this is welcomed by the equities market and triggers a fresh boost, that could benefit gold,” said CMC Markets strategist Ashraf Laidi.

The dollar was down 0.39 percent at 79.3 against a basket of currencies and was lower against the euro following the

Gold firmed today, Thursday, as weakness in the dollar prompted interest in the precious metal as a currency hedge, with some physical demand after the previous session’s fall also supported prices.

Spot gold was bid at $912.50 an ounce at 1417 GMT, against $908.45 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $3.50 to $912.80 an ounce.

Gold sold off on Wednesday in line with other commodities, slipping to an eight-week low, after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it was considering a clampdown on excessive speculation in commodities.

Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance in Geneva, said the slip was met with some light physical buying in the Far East and Europe.

“We saw some small demand out of the Far East this morning,” he said. “But India and the Middle East is still very

Firm investment demand outweighs weak jewelery buying… Euro weakens on euro zone outlook… Oil prices tumble nearly 10 percent…

Gold swung into the black on Tuesday, rising more than 2 percent to a one-week high of $855.75 an ounce, amid market talk of a large order.

Firm investment demand for gold as a haven from risk is fueling buying of the precious metal, analysts said.

Spot gold was quoted at $853.00/855.00 an ounce at 1228 GMT, up from $834.55 late on Monday. Earlier it touched a low of $822.90, down more than 1 percent.

Standard Chartered analyst Daniel Smith said strong investor flows into products such as exchange-traded funds as investors sought more secure assets were offsetting weaker jewelery demand.

“People are slowly building long positions in gold and commodities more generally,” he said.

Gold managed shrugged off early weakness linked to a

U.S. data sparks flight to dollar…  Oil slips, traders fret over demand outlook…  Traders await ECB rate decision on Thursday. Gold fell 1 percent on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains as the dollar firmed against the euro after weaker-than-expected economic data sparked a flight to the relative safety of the U.S. currency.

Trading is expected to be muted ahead of the interest rate announcement of the European Central Bank on Thursday, traders said. The ECB is widely expected to cut rates by 50 basis points.

Spot gold was at $812.00/814.00 an ounce at 1523 GMT, down from $821.05 in New York late on Tuesday. It touched a high of $828.65 earlier in the session, but slipped as the euro retreated and European equities and base metals turned negative.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell

Dollar rises to 3-week high vs euro on stimulus hopes… Oil prices fail to hold gains above $48 a barrel…  Abu Dhabi Dec gold sales fall 40 pct month on month.

Gold slid more than 3 percent in Europe on Monday as the strengthening dollar knocked the metal’s appeal as a currency hedge, and oil prices retreated from highs.

Other precious metals tumbled in gold’s wake, with silver falling 8 percent, platinum 3 percent and palladium 6 percent.

Spot gold was quoted at $851.65/853.65 an ounce at 1445 GMT, down from $873.20 an ounce late in New York on Friday, having touched a session low of $843.50.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were down $26.60 at $852.90 an ounce, having earlier touched a low of $843.50.

“The dollar is the critical factor today,”

Dollar weakens against euro as U.S. equities gain… Oil recovers from 3-1/2 year low … Traders look to U.S. auto sales figures to guide platinum

Gold climbed 1 percent on Tuesday, reversing earlier losses, as the dollar weakened against the euro on firming U.S. equity markets and oil prices recovered from 3-1/2 year lows.

Spot gold was quoted at $781.70/783.70 an ounce at 1522 GMT, up from $770.60 an ounce late in New York on Monday.

“Oil recovered and the euro-dollar is higher,” said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales at precious metals group Heraeus. “Those are the main reasons for the move.”

“The outlook from here really depends on the leading indicators, as well as oil and the dollar,” he added.

Gold slipped in earlier trade, extending the previous session’s losses, as the dollar firmed against the euro and oil prices sank,