Gold Futures On 25-year Peak

US gold futures reached a new 25-year peak above $550 an ounce on Monday, on steady speculative and fund buying as the market recovered from a brief fall to lower levels early in the day, dealers said.

February delivery gold at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division had climbed $8.60, or 1.6 percent, to $549.80 an ounce, just after hitting a session high at $550.20, which was the loftiest price for benchmark futures since March 1981.