Oil, gold end higher in New York

NEW YORK, Apr 30 (Commodity Online): Oil and gold closed for the week Friday on a higher note while silver recorded the highest in 28 years. Light sweet crude for June delivery closed at $113.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures for June delivery rose $25.20, or 1.6 per cent, to settle at $1,556.40. Brent crude for June rose 87 cents to settle at $125.89 a barrel, gaining 7.3 percent for the month, touching a 2011 high of $127.02 on April 11. US futures are up 6.1 per cent this month, headed for an eighth monthly increase, the longest sequence of gains on record, as the armed conflict in Libya threatens to prolong supply cuts from Africa's third-largest producer. Analysts attributed gains for the gold and black gold mainly to a weak dollar, lingering concerns over MENA region, and slow pace on the US economy. They said traders continued to keep watch on developments in the Middle East and North Africa for potential supply disruptions. The dollar index which compares the US unit to a basket of major currencies, fell to its weakest level since July 2008. It was last at 72.924 Friday, after hitting a low of 72.834. That compares with 73.127 in late US trading Thursday.