Gold drifted higher on Friday on a weaker dollar and dealers said the market was expected to be choppy in thin trading conditions during a U.S. holiday. Gold was quoted at $636.00/637.00 an ounce in early trading, up from $630.30/631.30 late in London on Thursday. Platinum also gained, but traded much below the record high in this week of $1,395 on talk of an exchange traded fund. Other precious metals followed gold upward move.

Currencies

The euro broke through the $1.30 barrier on Friday for the first time since April 2005, rising more than a U.S. cent on speculation about a European interest rate increase in light trading. In morning European trading, the euro spiked as high as $1.3085 from $1.2959 late the day before. The dollar weakened against other major currencies as well, falling to 115.81 Japanese yen from 116.16 the day before, while the British pound rose to $1.9316 from $1.9155.