Gold close this week at $1593.65 per ounce

The gold price moved slightly lower at beginning, sliding $3.10 to $1,584.25 per ounce Friday morning as profit taking weighed on the yellow metal but move up again to, Gold close this week at $1593.65 per ounce. The price of gold has gained 2.5% this week and 5.5% this month on the back of lingering sovereign debt issues and concerns U.S. policymakers will fail to reach an agreement to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit.

Gold prices showed little reaction to the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) this morning. The June CPI fell 0.2% versus the previous month and rose 3.6% year over year. The figures were in-line with market expectations and failed to move either gold or the broader stock and commodity markets. S&P 500 stock futures gained 3.50 to 1310.20 while oil climbed $0.43 to $96.12 per barrel.

In Europe, although the sovereign debt crisis took a back seat to Bernanke over the prior two days, investors will be closely monitoring developments in Italy. The country’s lower house, Chamber of Deputies, will hold a confidence vote on a €40 billion ($56 billion) austerity package, following Thursday’s confidence vote approval by the Senate. Italy is hoping the austerity measures will help to alleviate concerns over the nation’s debt load, which is larger than the combined amount of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.

Moving forward, UBS analyst Dominic Schnider wrote in a note to clients that “Sovereign debt problems in Europe and the U.S. and high inflation in emerging markets keep the structural outlook for gold bright. Gold is an outright buy from a diversification perspective. We target a move to USD 1,650/oz with price spikes above.”