NEW YORK: Gold and silver surged on Thursday, extending their early gains on a combination of strong physical demand, options-related buying and heightened geopolitical tensions, traders said.

Spot gold was up 2.3 percent at $1,463.01 by 1:21 p.m. EDT (1721 GMT), set for its biggest one-day gain since June 2012. Silver rose 4.7 percent to $24.17 percent, having earlier gained as much as 5.2 percent.

<Center><b><i>Copyright Reuters, 2013</b></i><br></center>