Gold gains Friday

Gold prices rose Friday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, taking a cue from equity markets, which rose broadly around the globe. The dollar didn't help much. The dollar index, a prorated measure of the greenback against six major currencies, dropped 0.03 percent to 79.36 on the International Exchange. Stock markets were rose Asia, Europe and the United States. In China, the Shanghai composite index rose 0.09 percent, while the Sensex index in India climbed 2.2 percent. Markets rose in Italy, Germany and France but the FTSE 100 index in Britain was flat. Gold added $5.20 to reach $1,775.40 per troy ounce. Silver settled at $34.57, down 10 cents. In Asia, the dollar fell to 78.18 yen from Thursday's 78.25 yen. In Europe, the dollar fell to $1.2982 to the euro and $1.6229 to the British pound. It also hit $1.0457 to the Australian dollar from Thursday's $1.0435.