Gold futures topped the $900 mark on Friday, closing higher for a fourth session as investors speculate the Fed will further cut interest rates in a bid to save the economy from a recession, while the dollar also weakened and boosted investment appeal of the precious metal.

Gold for February delivery ended Friday' trading up $4.10, or 0.5 percent, at $897.7 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose $6.5 to $900.10 an ounce at 10:40 a.m. . For the week, gold gained $32.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's delivered a speech on Thursday where he confirmed the Fed is ready to act aggressively in a move to bolster the economy. Investors took this as a sign that the central bank will further cut interest rates at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting which will be held on January 29-30.

In Thursday's speech, Bernanke also said the baseline outlook for real activity in 2008 has worsened and the downside risks to growth have become more pronounced.

The dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, earlier dropped to 75.785, the lowest in a week. It was last up slightly at 75.950.

Also on the NYMEX, Silver futures for March delivery rose 9.5 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $16.37 an ounce. The price earlier reached $16.415, the highest since January 1981. The metal gained 15 percent last year.

Precious metal Gold Ben Bernanke