GOLD PRICES

The fall in gold prices has prompted one or more central banks to buy as much as four tonnes of bullion in recent weeks, according to an industry source and a Financial Times report on Friday.

Gold edged up on Monday, aided in part by evidence of investor and central bank demand, after having posted its largest weekly fall last week in three months, although greater optimism in the markets over global growth could temper gains in the longer-run.

Gold steadied above two-month lows on Monday, following its largest weekly fall last week in three months, as evidence of investor and central bank demand in recent weeks helped offset the negative impact of a weaker euro.

India, the world's No. 1 gold buyer, plans to double the duty on imports of the precious metal, according to reports Friday, its second such move this year. Gold prices fell nearly 1 percent.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) said Thursday that it has resolved a labor dispute with PT Freeport Indonesia workers at its Grasberg mining and milling operations, but that the work stoppage will cost the company production and sales of a significant amount of copper and gold.

Gold rose Thursday, reversing a three-day plunge that left prices beneath their critical 200-day moving average.

Gold fell to its lowest since mid-January on Wednesday after a modest upgrade of the U.S. Federal Reserve's economic outlook added zip to the dollar and gave investors an excuse to lighten holdings of bullion.

Gold prices may have risen for more than a decade and surged in the last few years. But hedge fund manager Kyle Bass' prediction for 2012 and beyond is that prices still have a lot further to go.

Gold fell on Monday, under pressure from a softer euro and from dwindling expectations for the Federal Reserve to signal the need for more measures to keep U.S. rates low, although longer-term investors took their bullion holdings to a fresh record.

Ghana's full-year gold production declined by a few percentage points last year but is expected to rise in 2012, the head of its Chamber of Mines said on Friday.

Gold prices snapped three days of losses to rise on Wednesday, helped by the euro paring losses versus the dollar, which eased negative currency effects on the precious metal, and by a tentative recovery in demand for physical gold at lower prices.

Gold is down more than 6 percent since late February, having dropped sharply from the year's highs after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke held off signaling a further round of U.S. monetary easing in a key speech.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd , the world's most valuable lender, said in a statement that its gold leasing business reached 62.8 tonnes of physical metal in 2011.

The Fairtrade Foundation will begin working with African gold miners for the first time this year, the organisation said on Tuesday, 12 months after it launched the Fairtrade Gold brand with metal sourced from Latin America.

Gold prices slid below $1,700 an ounce in Europe on Monday as weaker-than-expected euro zone economic data lifted the dollar versus the euro, and as appetite for assets seen as higher risk, like stocks and commodities, suffered after China set its lowest annual growth target in eight years.

Gold plunged 3.8 percent Wednesday after the dollar firmed and investors took profits from a recent jump in the price of the yellow metal.

Gold prices fell 1 percent on Monday, in line with the euro, stocks and other commodities, as worries over the euro zone debt crisis and the impact of high crude oil prices on the fledgling economic recovery fuelled risk aversion.

Gold retreated on Friday, shrugging off gains in the euro and struggling to maintain traction after this week's already hefty price climb, as buyers favored assets seen as higher risk such as stocks and industrial commodities.

Gold traders in India, the world's biggest buyer of bullion, were reluctant to enter the market on Friday as the prices remained elevated, though off their 10 week highs.

Canadian miner Alamos Gold reported a 16 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped mainly by robust gold prices, and raised its semi-annual dividend by 43 percent.

Gold rose to a three-month high on Thursday and headed for its biggest one-week rally in a month, spurred on by the strength in the euro following Europe's bailout deal with Greece, ahead of an options expiry later in the day.