US MIDDAY: gold and silver strong, copper struggles

The following are New York midday prices and market updates for precious metals and copper:
GOLD: COMEX February gold at 12:08 pm EST up $1.00 at $425.40 an ounce, rushing toward it 15-year high in a $421.10-$427.30 range.
Gold seesaws, but rescued from selling by surge in euro to new high on back of disappointing 1,000 increase in US December non-farm payrolls.
Futures seen range trading below Tuesday's $431.50 high. Estimated 11:00 am gold volume was a moderate 22,000 contracts.
Spot gold fetched $424.35/5.05, up from the close at $423.85/4.55. London bullion dealers fixed afternoon reference price at $423.85.
SILVER: COMEX March silver surges 12.7 cents to $6.40 an ounce, trading from $6.215 to $6.435. Volume 10,000 lots at 11:00 am.
Dealers said players scrambled to cover after shorting late Thursday when NYMEX said it was raising silver margins, then selling more on BoJ intervention to support the dollar.
Spot silver trades at $6.37/39, versus $6.22/24 at the end of the previous session. The London fix was at $6.245.
PLATINUM GROUP METALS: NYMEX April platinum off $1.00 at $845.50 an ounce. Spot platinum at $850.00/854.00 an ounce.
March palladium up $4.50 at $208.50 an ounce. Spot was worth $201.00/206.00 an ounce.
COPPER: COMEX March copper off 0.55 cent at $1.103 a lb at 12:13 pm EST (1713 GMT), trades from $1.108 to $1.092.
Spot January down 1.30 cents at $1.0915. Copper lacks lustre in range-bound business, despite a tumble in the US dollar, as a US jobs report showes a shockingly small 1,000 gain in December 2003 non-farm payrolls - below expectations for 130,000 new jobs. Volume 6,000 lots at 11:00 am.