Posted on 01/04/2006 1:57:01 AM PST by BlackVeil
Australian gold stocks continued to rally today as the gold price raced back towards a 24-year high.
At 1245 AEDT the spot price of gold in Sydney was US$533.20 per fine ounce, up US$13.20 on last night's close.
This comes on the back of a US$6 rise yesterday, with gold moving back towards the 24 year record high of US$540.90 set in December.
Australia's biggest gold producer Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) led the pack in early trade today, racing up A$1.45 or 5.88 per cent to A$26.13 by 1240 AEDT.
Papua New Guinea miner Lihir Gold Ltd (ASX:LHG) also shot up 10 cents or 4.46 per cent to A$2.34 and the world's biggest gold miner Newmont Mining (ASX:NEM) raced up 40 cents or 5.49 per cent to A$7.69.
At 1243 AEDT Kingsgate Consolidated (ASX:KCN) had risen 15 cents to A$5.02 and Emperor Mines (ASX:EMP) was up two cents to 43 cents.
Daiwa Securities resources analyst Mark Pervan said it was hard to pin down what factors were driving the latest gold price rise.
"I think underlying it is concern that at some stage the US dollar will weaken and the market is pricing it in now," he said.
Mr Pervan said the outlook for the gold price for the next 12 months was strong with factors like the rising oil price, a potentially weakening US dollar and big gold purchases by reserve banks all playing their part.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.