US gold futures climbed within a wide trading range Friday on the back of safe-haven buying amid signs of strains in the global banking system and uncertainty about whether Congress would can agree on a financial sector bailout plan. December gold was up $6.00 at $888.00 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:13 am EDT (1313 GMT).
December traded in a wide range from $871.20 to $895.90. Flight-to-quality demand picked up for gold after US authorities shut bank Washington Mutual Inc on Thursday, selling its assets to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. In Europe, Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis NV denied it had a liquidity problem after its shares tumbled for a fifth straight day.
Strong physical demand and uncertainty over the US financial rescue plan lifted gold, FC Stone Broker George Nickas said. Bullion holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained near a record at 723.71 tonnes as of Thursday. Spot gold was quoted at $882.30/884.30 an ounce, up 0.8 percent from gold's nominal Thursday close at $875.70.
December silver was up 2.5 cents at $13.300 an ounce as less liquid silver followed gold's gains. Silver rose to a high of $13.575 with the low at $13.115. Spot silver was at $13.19/13.27 an ounce, up 0.2 percent from Thursday's nominal close of $13.16.
Nymex January platinum was down $43.20 or 3.6 percent at $1,148.00 an ounce amid fears that a weaker economy would hurt car sales and, as a result, autocatalyst demand. Front-month October was down $42.10 or 3.6 percent at $1,142.10. Spot platinum was at $1,128.50/1,148.50. December palladium was down $5.25 or 2.2 percent at $237.20 an ounce. Spot palladium was at $232/230.
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