(Bloomberg) -- Gold futures rose to a record $900.10 an ounce on speculation the Federal Reserve will further cut U.S. interest rates, weakening the dollar and boosting the investment appeal of the precious metal. Silver also climbed.
Interest-rate futures show a 68 percent chance the Fed will lower borrowing costs 0.5 percentage point to 3.75 percent by Jan. 30 after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke suggested cuts may be necessary to guard against an economic slowdown. Gold rose 31 percent last year when the Fed slashed rates 1 percentage point, sending the dollar 9.5 percent lower against the euro.
``If the Fed drops rates, a lower dollar will propel gold higher,'' said Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management in Chicago. ``Everything we buy is going to be more expensive. Any raw material will go through the roof. The smart people see inflation.''
Gold futures for February delivery rose $4.70, or 0.5 percent, to $898.30 an ounce at 11:55 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price reached the record at 10:40 a.m. The record level was confirmed by Nymex.
Silver futures for March delivery rose 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $16.295 an ounce. The price earlier reached $16.415, the highest since January 1981. The metal gained 15 percent last year.
HSBC Securities USA Inc. and Morgan Stanley predicted the Fed will reduce its benchmark rate by half a percentage point this month after Bernanke's comments, up from their previous forecast of a quarter point.
