Gold prices struck a series of record highs this week, eventually spiking above $1,100 for the first time, as Asian central banks snapped up the precious metal as an alternative to the dollar. The price of gold hit a record high above $1,100 an ounce in London trading Friday following a report that Sri Lanka had joined India in purchasing the precious metal in favor of a weak US currency. “The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has announced that it is buying gold to diversify its reserves,” industry body the World Gold Council (WGC) said in a statement issued before gold struck a record high of $1,101.42. Also Friday, the dollar weakened against the euro as official data showed the US unemployment rate in double digits for the first time since 1983 after reaching 10.2 percent in October. Gold futures meanwhile had struck a series of highs earlier in the week after the IMF said it had carried out a massive sale of the yellow metal to India. Gold and other commodity prices have surged in recent months amid a move away from a sliding dollar.
