US gold futures rose on Thursday, mainly on continued dollar weakness against the euro and some institutional buying, traders said. Other precious metals lost ground, including platinum, which fell more than 1 percent, wiping out gains from the day before.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, benchmark December gold was up $1.60 at $444.30 an ounce at 10:06 am EDT, trading within a range of $441.20 to $444.80.
The euro was still strong against the dollar, at $1.2340 compared with $1.2342 late on Wednesday.
A weaker dollar tends to boost gold prices as dollar-denominated bullion gets cheaper for investors overseas.
Summer vacations have kept gold trading a bit thinner recently and Comex estimated volume was around 10,000 contracts at 9 am Spot gold was changing hands at $438.40/439.20, up from $436.35/437.05 in New York on Wednesday.
"We have been seeing some fund buying," said one trader at an international bank.
"The technical look good and $437 is healthy, but some resistance levels to $456, which is where it was last December. "It could be difficult to get to the next level, but there is room for investors if it breaks through $456," said the trader, who requested anonymity.
He said the weak dollar continued to be supportive of gold. October delivery platinum fell back $10.60 to $907.50 an ounce, after soaring $11.10 to $918.10 on Wednesday.
Spot platinum traded at $902/908, down from $912/918 on Wednesday. "On platinum, we saw some follow-through from funds today," said Ralph despotise, a broker with RJ Futures.
"There was fund buying and then it dried up." Concerns about a possible South African mining strike as on Sunday have also contributed to driving the market during a seasonally slow period.
Gold and platinum companies in South Africa, the biggest bullion producer in the world, face the first countrywide strike in 18 years after wage talks broke down with miners' unions.
September silver slipped to $7.265 an ounce at 10:08 am from $7.307 an ounce on Wednesday, while spot silver hit $7.22/7.25, from $7.27/7.30 on Wednesday.
September palladium fell $2 to $194.50 an ounce, with spot at $191/195, down from $193/197 the day before.
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