February 08 -  Gold Rallies to $661 in Comdex futures trading on Wednesday resulting from heavy institutional buying.  The price upswing came after early trading was heading lower due to the release of very positive fourth quarter U.S. economic reports  indicating robust growth during 2006 fourth quarter. 

The gold markets were consoled by the fed announcement in regarding key interest rates, as the Federal Reserve said inflation risks remained even though it left interest rates unchanged. 

Copper is also rising due to a looming threat of chilean mine worker strikes.

Energy A Factor In The inflation Equation

The harsh Northeastern Winter season is causing an upswing in heating oil, crude futures climbed 2% to end up for a second straight day as cold weather in the U.S. Northeast — the world’s largest market for heating oil — drew down U.S. distillate inventories for the first time in almost two months, U.S. distillate inventories fell 2.6 million barrels last week, the first decline in seven weeks

Opec’s continues commitment to make good on 1.7 Bil barrel reduction in output are also factored into the gold value, boosting futures prices higher.