Gold shares moved higher on Friday amid a modest decline in the U.S. dollar and a broad-based rally on Wall Street.
The AMEX Gold Bugs Index –- comprised of many of the world’s largest gold producers -- rose 0.8% to 560.46 in mid-day trading.
Gold futures posted considerably smaller gains than gold equities, however, as the COMEX February 2012 contract inched higher by just $3.10 U.S., or 0.2% to $1,716.50 U.S. per ounce.
One of the top performing gold stocks in the HUI was IAMGOLD, which jumped 2.2% to $19.26 U.S. per share after the Canadian-based company announced a 25% increase in its annual dividend to $0.25 from $0.20 per share.
TD Securities analyst Steven Green wrote in a report to clients that "this represents a yield of 1.3 % and puts it in-line with its mid/large cap peer average (range of 0.8% – 2.1%)…With strong cash flow and over $1 billion in cash the company can easily afford this boost."
Other notable advancers included Eldorado Gold, Kinross Gold, and Randgold Resources. EGO rose by 0.6% to $16.32 per share, KGC by 1.2% to $13.33 per share, and GOLD by 0.4% to $107.10 per share.
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