Sponsored by Gold prices

Gold rose above $1,360 an ounce on Monday on fears that Egypt's unrest could spread across the Arab world, while silver gained 2 percent on strong industrial demand driven by signs of an improving economy.

Gold rose above $1,360 an ounce on Monday as the dollar's retreat from highs versus the euro took some pressure off prices, with a second consecutive weekly price rise underpinning investors' confidence in the metal.

Gold prices eased a touch on Friday, pressured by gains in the dollar and softer investment demand for the metal after a raft of well-received economic data boosted interest in other assets.

World stock markets fell hard on Thursday, with Hong Kong shares losing 2% and London's FTSE100 dropping 0.9% by lunchtime. Indian stock markets have lost more than $20 million per minute so far in 2011, the Economic Times reports, with billionaire Anil Ambani blaming vicious and illegal rumors.

Gold was little changed on Wednesday as the market was underpinned by a dollar drop and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comment that he had no plans to scrap a massive bond-buying program, indicating interest rates will not rise any time soon.

Gold held close to the previous session's near three-week high in Europe on Wednesday, supported by an increased focus on inflation after China's second interest rate hike in six weeks.

World stocks and oil prices ebbed from recent highs on Tuesday after China raised interest rates for the second time in just over a month, spurring worries of the hike's impact on global economic demand.

Gold prices inched up on Monday, underpinned by inflation concerns, but a more optimistic economic outlook and worries about interest rate hikes kept bullion from rising further.

Gold held near $1,350 an ounce on Monday after the metal's first weekly rise this year supported investor confidence in the metal, though a more optimistic view of the global economic outlook is continuing to weigh on prices.

The price of gold is at a critical juncture. What happens in the next couple of weeks can determine whether the metal's spectacular rally will continue or fade.

Gold rose over 1 percent in choppy trade on Thursday, with a sudden jump by over $20 per ounce within minutes as large buy orders were apparently triggered in the future markets. This comes unexpected to precious metals experts, as the gold price was supposed to be kept low by the usual large Wall Street players during todays speech by Bernanke, and was set to rally on Friday, when unexpectedly bad labor market numbers will come in and drive gold prices higher.

Gold prices eased a touch in Europe on Wednesday after well received U.S. economic data and a spate of upbeat corporate earnings deflected interest away from bullion on to higher-risk, higher-yielding assets.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday on strong earnings and merger activity, overshadowing concerns about the possible spread of unrest in Egypt which had caused a sharp selloff in world stocks on Friday.

[Gold] buying continued on fears the unrest in Egypt will spread across the Middle East, says Richcomm Global Services in Dubai. But Asia's gold market is less sensitive to what happened in Middle East compared to New York, said a Hong Kong dealer in a note this morning.

Gold fell more than 2 percent on Thursday, after a raft of positive economic data from the United States and more hawkish signals from some other central bank officials have sparked speculation that certain major economies would move to raise interest rates sooner than previously thought.

Emerging stocks edged down on Tuesday as inflation worries persisted and weaker metals prices knocked South African shares and the rand.

Gold continues to form a long consolidation pattern which has lasted basically for the final quarter of 2010, says Phil Smith in his chart analysis for Reuters' clients. [On] the possible topping [head-and-shoulders] pattern I've been looking at...we have now broken the neckline. Watch for a decisive break below this line. The target for this topping pattern is $1230.

2011 will mark 40 years since the United States' government finally stopped redeeming its dollars for gold. That ended over 250 years of formal gold backing for the West's dominant currencies. It also took the entire world off precious-metal money for the first time in 5,000 years of civilization.

By lunchtime in London – and compared with New Year 2011's record highs – the Gold Price in Dollars stood 6% lower, in Euros 7.5% down, and in British Pounds nearly 9% lower.

Reports that some financial institutions have started to exit their gold positions have been circulating this week, says French bank and London bullion dealer Natixis in its latest commodity analysis. Physically-backed ETF trust funds shrank almost 1% this week on Natixis' data - the sharpest weekly drop since we started keeping records in 2008.

Gold fell like a stone on Thursday, following three days of gains, and ignored a recovery in the euro as investment demand waned. Spot gold fell over $20 to $1,348.55 an ounce by 1426 GMT.

Gold rose for a third straight day on Wednesday on a weaker dollar and strong Asian physical demand, while platinum and palladium hit multi-year highs on an improving global economic outlook.

The South African rand fell to its lowest in five weeks on Friday, as the central bank mopped up dollar supply as a measure to curb currency strength, while waning global risk appetite also weighed.

Gold fell in Europe on Friday after China's central bank raised lenders' reserve requirements by 50 basis points, with softer haven demand for the metal after solid bond sales by Portugal and Spain also weighing on prices.

The Euro extended its rally on the currency markets, spiking to a 4-week high vs. the Dollar of $1.3450 before easing back. Thus, Gold priced in Euros dropped almost 5% from Monday's near-record high.

Talking to people in the Chinese market over the weekend, writes Jeff Toshima, Tokyo director of the World Gold Council, in today's Nikkei Money, I was amazed to discover the number of gold saving accounts at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has grown above 1,000,000 within a year of ICBC launching the service.

Topics of this interview include Scott Carter highlighting the global dynamic of today's interest in gold, and how macro-economic trends continue to drive the decade long bull market of the precious metals. We also evaluate the possibility of seeing QE3 in 2011.

The Gold Price in Dollars slid to a near 6-week low in early London trading on Friday, dropping below $1360 an ounce, but then bounced back to $1369 as New York trading began and Non-Farm Payrolls showed a rise of 103,000 - below analyst forecasts - and the labor-force participation rate slipped further below two-in-three.

In this piece, we will examine four of gold's most important rules; the irreversible trends affecting the gold price; and how the consequences of these trends will push gold higher in 2011 and beyond.