Gold crosses $1,007 as euro's relentless march continues

London: Gold moved further into record territory above $1,000 per ounce and the euro hit fresh highs against the dollar on Friday after more bad news on the troubled US economy, traders said.

The dollar also tumbled below one Swiss franc for the first time after US investment giant Bear Stearns said it was receiving emergency funding and following weak US consumer confidence data.

Gold, seen as a safe-haven asset during financial and political troubles, surged as high as $1,007.10 an ounce, easily passing the record of 1,000.45 that was set on Thursday. It was quoted at $999.60/1,000.40 at 1611 GMT.

Gold got support from the sliding dollar and soaring oil prices because the precious metal is regarded as a safe store of value in times of economic uncertainty and rising inflation, analysts said.

In mid-afternoon London trade, the euro was at $1.5688, beating the prior record of $1.5651 set in Asian deals earlier.

Wall Street plunged as investors were rattled after JPMorgan Chase & Co and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York teamed up to provide emergency financing to Bear Stearns.

Oil fell over $1 as investors took profits after prices hit a record $111 in the previous session.

"One dollar down is not very significant, it would need a lot more weakness to shake out the speculators," said Christopher Bellew at Bache Financial in London. US crude for April delivery fell over $1 to $109.27 in volatile trade on the day April contract options expire. The contract was down 76 cents at $109.57 at 1532 GMT.

It touched a record for the seventh time in a row in the previous session and is up nearly eight per cent this month and about 14.5 per cent this year.

London Brent crude for April, which expired later yesterday, hit a record $108.02 before easing back to $106.78.

Barclays Capital said tight fundamentals, including disappointing non-Opec production and soaring energy imports into China, continued to underpin the record high oil prices.