Gold Retreats From Record Highs (GLD)

Gold retreated from record highs mid-Friday, as the commodity took a backseat to a stronger dollar. Spot gold is trading higher by $3.90 this afternoon, to $1,277.70 an ounce. Spot gold hit an all-time high of $1,282.75 an ounce before easing back to $1,276.50 this morning. "It's partly a currency move. There's certainly investor nervousness about monetary policy around the world since the yen intervention," precious metals strategist Matthew Turner of Mitsubishi Corp. told Reuters. "A lot of people are sensing a race to the bottom by central banks to print more of their currency, to reflate their economies and gold is getting support from that." Gold has clearly benefited from jittery financial markets and a weaker dollar. According to a Reuters report, "Dollar sentiment overall has been damaged by speculation of more quantitative easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve next week. Quantitative easing is a process by which a central bank pumps money into the economy by printing money and buying bonds. Holdings in the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust GLD, were flat overnight at 1,294.746 tonnes. Shares are up 0.08% this afternoon, to $124.73.