Gold soars to record high

Tue Nov 3, 3:29 PM

Gold prices hit another record Tuesday

The December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $31.60 to $1,085.60 an ounce in afternoon trading.

The jump came after India's central bank bought 200 metric tons of the precious metal from the International Monetary Fund for $6.7 billion. The move was part of an effort to shore up IMF finances and increase low-cost lending to developing countries and raised speculation about more purchases by other central banks.

That led the Toronto stock exchange with its heavy weighting in gold mining stocks to seesaw through the day. The S&P/TSX composite index, which had been down as much as 124 points, was trading up 71.80 points in afternoon trading at 10,950.15.

The gold sector was ahead 5.5 per cent. Yamana Gold gained 71 cents, or six per cent, to $12.36 on six million shares.