Gold Tops $1,000 on Bear Stearns Crisis

Other commodities traded mostly lower, with crude oil, copper and agriculture futures falling.

Following weeks of flirting with the $1,000 mark, gold finally breached the milestone Thursday after the dollar plunged against rival currencies. The dollar hit a record low Friday against the euro, which bought as much as $1.5687. The greenback's fall has been a major driver of gold because investors consider the metal a safe investment in times of economic turmoil and rising inflation.

Investors pushed gold higher Friday in reaction to a plan by the New York Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to provide secured funding to Bear Stearns in a bid to keep the troubled investment firm from collapsing amid a global credit crisis.

"The fact that gold was able to power back over $1,000 was very much due to the bad credit-related news that continues to sweep Wall Street," said James Steel, analyst with HSBC in New York. "The credit crisis keep morphing and the safe-haven buying keeps getting reinforced."

Gold for April delivery gained $5.70 to settle at $999.50 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier rising as high as $1,009 a new trading record. The metal rose above $1,001 in aftermarket trading.

Gold has gained nearly 20 percent this year amid the tumbling dollar, record-high crude prices and nervousness about the faltering U.S. economy. Analysts say the metal could go even higher if the Federal Reserve continues its interest rate-cutting campaign when it meets on Tuesday.

Lower interest rates can boost the economy but also tend to undermine the dollar, encouraging investors to buy hard assets like gold and silver. A weak greenback also makes dollar-denominated commodities like gold cheaper for overseas buyers.

Other precious metals traded mixed Friday. Silver for May delivery gained 23.5 cents to settle at $20.655 an ounce on the Nymex, while May copper fell 0.30 cent to settle at $3.820 a pound.

In energy markets, crude oil prices dipped modestly, closing lower for the first time in a week as the slide on Wall Street and U.S. economic worries led to profit-taking.