Gold ends 2005 over 18% higher
December 30 (from MarketWatch) -- Gold futures finished higher Friday, extending their winning streak to six sessions and ending 2005 with a gain of over $80 an ounce. Gold for February delivery closed at $518.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.40 for the session. Metals trading on the exchange closed by 12:10 p.m. Eastern time Friday, ahead of the New Year's holiday on Monday. Regular trading will resume Tuesday. In the meantime, analysts remained upbeat about gold's prospects. During the past year, gold "finally reasserted itself as something other than a 'sky-is-falling' refuge and ... emerged as a fourth global currency," said Jon Nadler, investment products analyst at bullion dealers Kitco. And "millions of prudent investors across the globe came to the conclusion that a portfolio without gold was a luxury they could no longer afford." Given strong demand in China and India, "enormous amounts of deficits accumulating in the U.S." and "price and expenditure shocks" brought on by several hurricanes among other things, "it is relatively easy to conclude that even a modest allocation of 5% to 10% can only benefit one's portfolio and hedge against structural dollar weakness," said Nadler. Add to that inflation pressures, political instability and low yields on cash instruments, and the "case for gold ownership becomes compelling," he said. This past year has merely been a "warm-up for 2006," said Dale Doelling, chief market technician at Trends In Commodities.