--Comex Dec hits intraday record $1,824.20 a troy ounce

--US weekly jobless claims, CPI data don't ease investor worries

--Slumping global equities send investors to refuge assets

 
   By Matt Day 
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures rose for a fourth day, surging above the $1,800 mark as slumping global equities markets and weak U.S. economic reports sent investors to gold as a store of wealth.

The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, recently traded up $26.80, or 1.5%, at $1,820.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose as high as $1,824.20 a troy ounce, an intraday record.

Futures first broke above $1,800 last week, but haven't settled above the key psychological level.

European equity markets plunged sharply Thursday, with the financial sector hit particularly hard as investors worried that recent weak economic data could be a harbinger of renewed recession in developed world. U.S. stock markets opened sharply lower after separate reports showed that the number of people claiming new jobless benefits rose last week and consumer inflation resumed its climb last month.

"These problems in Europe and the U.S. aren't going to go away any time soon," said Bill O'Neill, a principal with Logic Advisors. "It's making gold and Treasurys the favorite investment vehicles."

-By Matt Day, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-4986; matt.day@dowjones.com

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110818-709426.html