Gold for February delivery rose $19.9 (1.2%) to settle at $1,675.8 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. Prices rose to a high of $1,680 during intra day trading. Gold ended December 2012 higher by 2.1%. Gold ended 2012 with an overall yearly gain of around 7%, which marks the 12th consecutive year the yellow metal has posted yearly gains.
On Monday, March silver rose $0.25, or 0.8% to settle at $30.23 an ounce. Silver finished 8.3% higher for the year 2012.
Markets were quieter overnight and for most of the day, on this last trading day of the year, and ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Tuesday. Most U.S. markets closed early Monday. Then in early afternoon trading newswires reported that President Obama was going to make a statement, most likely on the fiscal cliff situation. U.S. lawmakers need to reach a deal by 3 January to avoid a series of tax increases and spending cuts that automatically go into effect.
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In other news, the CME Group announced last weekend that it will decrease gold futures margins by 11% beginning on 2 January 2013. That was a bullish underlying factor for the gold market.
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