Gold prices moved closer to its all-time high on Wednesday (August 25) despite relative firmness in the dollar. One ounce of gold currently fetches $1,238 in early evening New York Globex trade.

Gold closed Tuesday at $1,230.40 after a Monday close of $1,225.90. At one point in early morning New York NYMEX trade Tuesday, gold traded as low as $1,210.

The current market for aggressive gold traders is the record high of $1,261 that was reached in late June. A break of this level would likely produce a run up toward $1,300, a price point most analysts have forecasted to arrive at some point in the remaining months of 2010.

Gold continues higher as equity traders monitor the Dow Jones Industrial average, which is fighting to maintain the 10,000 plateau.

A sour home sales report Wednesday morning caused an early break below that point until a late rally propped the Dow to a close of 10,060.

The dollar has been firm against the euro and pound of late. A strong dollar does not normally correlate with higher gold, but that has not been the case recently.

One euro currently nets $1.2664 and the pound is worth $1.5475. Both major European currencies have fallen sharply since the first part of August.

Gold prices have been moving progressively upward since finishing a moderate pullback on July 28th at $1,157. A call for $1,300 gold has been out for several months. Some very aggressive forecasts earlier in 2010 predicted gold prices could reach as high as $1,800 later this year.

It is hard to fathom another $500-plus increase over the current rate of gold, but any type of significant and damaging news on the US economy could produce a strong period of buying momentum.

There have been few signs that current holders of gold are ready to jump out. Some profit sharing began when gold topped out at $1,261, but the $104 slide that followed was indicative of mild selling interest. Buyers appear to have taken charge of the gold market once again.